Sample records for supernovae explosion models

Targeting advanced students of astronomy and physics, as well as astronomers and physicists contemplating research on supernovae or related fields, David Branch and J. Craig Wheeler offer a modern account of the nature, causes and consequences of supernovae, as well as of issues that remain to be resolved. Owing especially to (1) the appearance of supernova 1987A in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, (2) the spectacularly successful use of supernovae as distance indicators for cosmology, (3) the association of some supernovae with the enigmatic cosmic gamma-ray bursts, and (4) the discovery of a class of superluminous supernovae, the pace of supernova research has been increasing sharply. This monograph serves as a broad survey of modern supernova research and a guide to the current literature. The book’s emphasis is on the explosive phases of supernovae. Part 1 is devoted to a survey of the kinds of observations that inform us about supernovae, some basic interpreta tions of such data, and an overview of t...

Despite their relevance across a broad range of astrophysical research topics, Type Ia supernovaexplosions are still poorly understood and answers to the questions of when, why and how these events are triggered remain unclear. In this respect, polarisation offers a unique opportunity to discriminate between the variety of possible scenarios. The observational evidence that Type Ia supernovae are associated with rather low polarisation signals (smaller than a few per cent) places strong constraints for models and calls for modest asphericities in the progenitor system and/or explosion mechanism.The goal of this thesis is to assess the validity of contemporary Type Ia supernovaexplosionmodels by testing whether their predicted polarisation signatures can account for the small signals usually observed. To this end, we have implemented and tested an innovative Monte Carlo scheme in the radiative transfer code artis. Compared to previous Monte Carlo approaches, this technique produces synthetic observables (light curves, flux and polarisation spectra) with a substantial reduction in the Monte Carlo noise and therefore in the required computing time. This improvement is particularly crucial for our study as we aim to extract very weak polarisation signals, comparable to those detected in Type Ia supernovae. We have also demonstrated the applicability of this method to other classes of supernovae via a preliminary study of the first spectropolarimetry observations of superluminous supernovae.Using this scheme, we have calculated synthetic spectropolarimetry for three multi-dimensional explosionmodels recently proposed as promising candidates to explain Type Ia supernovae. Our findings highlight the power of spectropolarimetry in testing and discriminating between different scenarios. While all the three models predict light curves and flux spectra that are similar to each others and reproduce those observed in Type Ia supernovae comparably well, polarisation does

We present a Monte Carlo radiative transfer technique for calculating synthetic spectropolarimetry for multidimensional supernovaexplosionmodels. The approach utilizes `virtual-packets' that are generated during the propagation of the Monte Carlo quanta and used to compute synthetic observables for specific observer orientations. Compared to extracting synthetic observables by direct binning of emergent Monte Carlo quanta, this virtual-packet approach leads to a substantial reduction in the Monte Carlo noise. This is not only vital for calculating synthetic spectropolarimetry (since the degree of polarization is typically very small) but also useful for calculations of light curves and spectra. We first validate our approach via application of an idealized test code to simple geometries. We then describe its implementation in the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code ARTIS and present test calculations for simple models for Type Ia supernovae. Specifically, we use the well-known one-dimensional W7 model to verify that our scheme can accurately recover zero polarization from a spherical model, and to demonstrate the reduction in Monte Carlo noise compared to a simple packet-binning approach. To investigate the impact of aspherical ejecta on the polarization spectra, we then use ARTIS to calculate synthetic observables for prolate and oblate ellipsoidal models with Type Ia supernova compositions.

With an increasing number of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) discovered, the question of their origin remains open and causes heated debates in the supernova community. Currently, there are three proposed mechanisms for SLSNe: (1) pair-instability supernovae (PISNe), (2) magnetar-driven supernovae and (3) models in which the supernova ejecta interacts with a circumstellar material ejected before the explosion. Based on current observations of SLSNe, the PISN origin has been disfavoured for a number of reasons. Many PISN models provide overly broad light curves and too reddened spectra, because of massive ejecta and a high amount of nickel. In the current study, we re-examine PISN properties using progenitor models computed with the GENEC code. We calculate supernovaexplosions with FLASH and light-curve evolution with the radiation hydrodynamics code STELLA. We find that high-mass models (200 and 250 M⊙) at relatively high metallicity (Z = 0.001) do not retain hydrogen in the outer layers and produce relatively fast evolving PISNe Type I and might be suitable to explain some SLSNe. We also investigate uncertainties in light-curve modelling due to codes, opacities, the nickel-bubble effect and progenitor structure and composition.

With an increasing number of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) discovered the question of their origin remains open and causes heated debates in the supernova community. Currently, there are three proposed mechanisms for SLSNe: (1) pair-instability supernovae (PISN), (2) magnetar-driven supernovae, and (3) models in which the supernova ejecta interacts with a circumstellar material ejected before the explosion. Based on current observations of SLSNe, the PISN origin has been disfavoured for a number of reasons. Many PISN models provide overly broad light curves and too reddened spectra, because of massive ejecta and a high amount of nickel. In the current study we re-examine PISN properties using progenitor models computed with the GENEC code. We calculate supernovaexplosions with FLASH and light curve evolution with the radiation hydrodynamics code STELLA. We find that high-mass models (200 M⊙ and 250 M⊙) at relatively high metallicity (Z = 0.001) do not retain hydrogen in the outer layers and produce relatively fast evolving PISNe Type I and might be suitable to explain some SLSNe. We also investigate uncertainties in light curve modelling due to codes, opacities, the nickel-bubble effect and progenitor structure and composition.

With an increasing number of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) discovered the question of their origin remains open and causes heated debates in the supernova community. Currently, there are three proposed mechanisms for SLSNe: (1) pair-instability supernovae (PISN), (2) magnetar-driven supernovae, and (3) models in which the supernova ejecta interacts with a circumstellar material ejected before the explosion. Based on current observations of SLSNe, the PISN origin has been disfavoured for a number of reasons. Many PISN models provide overly broad light curves and too reddened spectra, because of massive ejecta and a high amount of nickel. In the current study we re-examine PISN properties using progenitor models computed with the GENEC code. We calculate supernovaexplosions with FLASH and light curve evolution with the radiation hydrodynamics code STELLA. We find that high-mass models (200 and 250 solar masses) at relatively high metallicity (Z=0.001) do not retain hydrogen in the outer layers and produce r...

In this talk we discuss the nature of late-time, broad-banded instability development at an interface when a strong blast wave travels from a heavier to lighter fluid, as is the case in a supernovaexplosion. After a short period of Richtmyer-Meshkov growth, the interface is unstable via the Rayleigh-Taylor mechanism, which rapidly becomes the dominant energy source for growth. This situation is distinct from the classical case in two important ways, both of which can be understood in terms of a bubble merger model we have developed for blast-wave-driven systems. Rather than the constant acceleration feeding the instability to spawn ever larger scales and accelerate the growth, the decaying acceleration in the blast-wave case leads to a decay in the RT growth rate, and a freezing in of a preferred largest scale, which is dependent on the precise details of the system. In the language of bubble-merger models, this can be understood in terms of the time for the generation of the next largest scale being longer than the lifetime of the blast wave. Secondly, the continual expansion behind the blast front precludes the emergence of a self-similar regime, independent of the initial conditions, in the planar case. Self-similarity may be recovered in diverging systems but may be difficult to observe in reality because of rather restrictive conditions that must be met. These observations are borne out by hi-resolution numerical simulations using the higher order Godunov AMR hydrocode Raptor in 2 and 3D, and explain other simulations of instability growth in supernovaeexplosions; the initial "interfacial" structure is likely very important in determining the late-time growth. The model predictions are also consistent with numerous images of natural and manmade explosions.

Supernovaexplosions are one of the most energetic--and potentially lethal--phenomena in the Universe. Scientists have speculated for decades about the possible consequences for life on Earth of a nearby supernova, but plausible candidates for such an event were lacking. Here we show that the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, a group of young stars currently located at~130 parsecs from the Sun, has generated 20 SN explosions during the last 11 Myr, some of them probably as close as 40 pc to our planet. We find that the deposition on Earth of 60Fe atoms produced by these explosions can explain the recent measurements of an excess of this isotope in deep ocean crust samples. We propose that ~2 Myr ago, one of the SNe exploded close enough to Earth to seriously damage the ozone layer, provoking or contributing to the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary marine extinction.

A promising model for normal Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosions are delayed detonations of Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs, in which the burning starts out as a subsonic deflagration and turns at a later phase of the explosion into a supersonic detonation. The mechanism of the underlying deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) is unknown in detail, but necessary conditions have been determined recently. The region of detonation initiation cannot be spatially resolved in multi-dimensional full-star simulations of the explosion. We develop a subgrid-scale (SGS) model for DDTs in thermonuclear supernova simulations that is consistent with the currently known constraints. The probability for a DDT to occur is calculated from the distribution of turbulent velocities measured on the grid scale in the vicinity of the flame and the fractal flame surface area that satisfies further physical constraints, such as fuel fraction and fuel density. The implementation of our DDT criterion provides a solid basis for sim...

A type Ia supernovaexplosion starts in a white dwarf as a laminar deflagration at the center of the star and soon several hydrodynamic instabilities (in particular, the Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instability) begin to act. In previous work (Ghezzi, de Gouveia Dal Pino, & Horvath 2001), we addressed the propagation of an initially laminar thermonuclear flame in presence of a magnetic field assumed to be dipolar. We were able to show that, within the framework of a fractal model for the flame velocity, the front is affected by the field through the quenching of the R-T instability growth in the direction perpendicular to the field lines. As a consequence, an asymmetry develops between the magnetic polar and the equatorial axis that gives a prolate shape to the burning front. We have here computed numerically the total integrated asymmetry as the flame front propagates outward through the expanding shells of decreasing density of the magnetized white dwarf progenitor, for several chemical compositions, and found...

Core-collapse supernovae eject huge amount of flux of energetic neutrinos. We studied the explosive nucleosyn-thesis in supernovae and found that several isotopes {sup 7}Li, {sup 11}B, {sup 92}Nb, {sup 138}La and {sup 180}Ta as well as r-process nuclei are affected by the neutrino interactions. The abundance of these isotopes therefore depends strongly on the neutrino flavor oscillation due to the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) effect. We discuss first how to determine the neutrino temperatures in order to explain the observed solar system abundances of these isotopes, combined with Galactic chemical evolution of the light nuclei and the heavy r-process elements. We then study the effects of neutrino oscillation on their abundances, and propose a novel method to determine the still unknown neutrino oscillation parameters, mass hierarchy and θ{sub 13}, simultaneously. There is recent evidence that SiC X grains from the Murchison meteorite may contain supernova-produced light elements {sup 11}B and {sup 7}Li encapsulated in the presolar grains. Combining the recent experimental constraints on θ{sub 13}, we show that our method sug-gests at a marginal preference for an inverted neutrino mass hierarchy. Finally, we discuss supernova relic neutrinos that may indicate the softness of the equation of state (EoS) of nuclear matter as well as adiabatic conditions of the neutrino oscillation.

The proximity of SN 1987A and the wealth of observations collected at all wavelenght bands since its outburst allow us to study in details the evolution of a supernova remnant (SNR) from the immediate aftermath of the SN explosion till its expansion through the highly inhomogeneous circumstellar medium (CSM). We investigate the interaction between SN 1987A and the surrounding CSM through three-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling. The aim is to determine the contribution of shocked ejecta and shocked CSM to the detected X-ray flux and to derive the density structure of the inhomogeneous CSM and clues on the early structure of ejecta. We show that the physical model reproducing the main observables of SN 1987A reproduces also the X-ray emission of the subsequent expanding remnant, thus bridging the gap between supernovae and supernova remnants. By comparing model results with observations, we constrain the explosion energy in the range 1.2 - 1.4 × 10^(51) erg and the envelope mass in the range 15 - 17 M_{⊙}) . We find that the shape of X-ray lightcurves and spectra at early epochs (environment, and to constrain the pre-supernova structure of the nebula. Finally the remnant evolution is followed for 40 years, providing predictions on the future of SN 1987A until the adventof Athena.

We calculate the neutrino oscillations numerically in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) explosionmodels to see how asphericity has impacts on neutrino spectra. Magneto-driven explosions are one of the most attracting scenarios for producing large scale departures from spherical symmetric geometry, that are reported by many observational data. We find that the event rates at Super-Kamiokande (SK) seen from the polar direction (e.g., the rotational axis of the supernovae) decrease when the shock wave is propagating through H-resonance. In addition, we find that L-resonance in this situation becomes non-adiabatic, and the effect of L-resonance appears in the neutrino signal, because the MHD shock can propagate to the stellar surface without shock-stall after core bounce, and the shock reaches the L-resonance at earlier stage than the conventional spherical supernovaexplosionmodels. Our results suggest that we may obtain the observational signatures of the two resonances in SK for Galactic supernova.

We investigate neutrino oscillations from core-collapse supernovae that produce magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) explosions. By calculating numerically the flavor conversion of neutrinos in the highly non-spherical envelope, we study how the explosion anisotropy has impacts on the emergent neutrino spectra through the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect. In the case of the inverted mass hierarchy with a relatively large θ{sub 13} (sin{sup 2} 2θ{sub 13} ∼> 10{sup −3}), we show that survival probabilities of ν-bar {sub e} and ν{sub e} seen from the rotational axis of the MHD supernovae (i.e., polar direction), can be significantly different from those along the equatorial direction. The event numbers of ν-bar {sub e} observed from the polar direction are predicted to show steepest decrease, reflecting the passage of the magneto-driven shock to the so-called high-resonance regions. Furthermore we point out that such a shock effect, depending on the original neutrino spectra, appears also for the low-resonance regions, which could lead to a noticeable decrease in the ν{sub e} signals. This reflects a unique nature of the magnetic explosion featuring a very early shock-arrival to the resonance regions, which is in sharp contrast to the neutrino-driven delayed supernovamodels. Our results suggest that the two features in the ν-bar {sub e} and ν{sub e} signals, if visible to the Super-Kamiokande for a Galactic supernova, could mark an observational signature of the magnetically driven explosions, presumably linked to the formation of magnetars and/or long-duration gamma-ray bursts.

We present a new mechanism for Type Ia supernovaexplosions in massive white dwarfs. The proposed scenario follows from relaxing the assumption of symmetry in the model and involves a detonation created in an unconfined environment. The explosion begins with an essentially central ignition of stellar material initiating a deflagration. This deflagration results in the formation of a buoyantly-driven bubble of hot material that reaches the stellar surface at supersonic speeds. The bubble breakout forms a strong pressure wave that laterally accelerates fuel-rich outer stellar layers. This material, confined by gravity to the white dwarf, races along the stellar surface and is focused at the location opposite to the point of the bubble breakout. These streams of nuclear fuel carry enough mass and energy to trigger a detonation just above the stellar surface. The flow conditions at that moment support a detonation that will incinerate the white dwarf and result in an energetic explosion. The stellar expansion fol...

In the framework of the Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf model for Type Ia supernovae, various stages of the explosion are described in terms of the burning regimes of the thermonuclear flame front. In the early flamelet regime following the ``smoldering'' phase prior to the explosion, the flame is sufficiently thin and fast to remain laminar on small scales. As the white dwarf density declines, the thermal flame structure becomes subject to penetration by turbulent eddies, and it enters the ``distributed burning'' regime. A specific control parameter for this transition is proposed. Furthermore, we outline an argument for the coincidence of the transition between burning regimes with the onset of a deflagration-detonation-transition (DDT) in the late phase of the explosion.

A nearby supernova (SN) explosion could have negatively influenced life on Earth, maybe even been responsible for mass extinctions. Mass extinction poses a significant extinction of numerous species on Earth, as recorded in the paleontologic, paleoclimatic, and geological record of our planet. Depending on the distance between the Sun and the SN, different types of threats have to be considered, such as ozone depletion on Earth, causing increased exposure to the Sun's ultraviolet radiation, or the direct exposure of lethal x-rays. Another indirect effect is cloud formation, induced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere which result in a drop in the Earth's temperature, causing major glaciations of the Earth. The discovery of highly intensive gamma ray bursts (GRBs), which could be connected to SNe, initiated further discussions on possible life-threatening events in Earth's history. The probability that GRBs hit the Earth is very low. Nevertheless, a past interaction of Earth with GRBs and/or SNe cannot be exclude...

We present the first two-dimensional general relativistic (GR) simulations of stellar core collapse and explosion with the CoCoNuT hydrodynamics code in combination with the VERTEX solver for energy-dependent, three-flavor neutrino transport, using the extended conformal flatness condition for approximating the spacetime metric and a ray-by-ray-plus ansatz to tackle the multi-dimensionality of the transport. For both of the investigated 11.2 and 15 solar mass progenitors we obtain successful, though seemingly marginal, neutrino-driven supernovaexplosions. This outcome and the time evolution of the models basically agree with results previously obtained with the PROMETHEUS hydro solver including an approximative treatment of relativistic effects by a modified Newtonian potential. However, GR models exhibit subtle differences in the neutrinospheric conditions compared to Newtonian and pseudo-Newtonian simulations. These differences lead to significantly higher luminosities and mean energies of the radiated ele...

We present a detailed theoretical analysis of the gravitational-wave (GW) signal of the post-bounce evolution of core-collapse supernovae (SNe), employing for the first time relativistic, two-dimensional (2D) explosionmodels with multi-group, three-flavor neutrino transport based on the ray-by-ray-plus approximation. The waveforms reflect the accelerated mass motions associated with the characteristic evolutionary stages that were also identified in previous works: A quasi-periodic modulation by prompt postshock convection is followed by a phase of relative quiescence before growing amplitudes signal violent hydrodynamical activity due to convection and the standing accretion shock instability during the accretion period of the stalled shock. Finally, a high-frequency, low-amplitude variation from proto-neutron star (PNS) convection below the neutrinosphere appears superimposed on the low-frequency trend associated with the aspherical expansion of the SN shock after the onset of the explosion. Relativistic e...

The remnants of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) have complex morphologies that may reflect asymmetries and structures developed during the progenitor SN explosion. Here we investigate how the morphology of the SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) reflects the characteristics of the progenitor SN with the aim to derive the energies and masses of the post-explosion anisotropies responsible for the observed spatial distribution of Fe and Si/S. We model the evolution of Cas A from the immediate aftermath of the progenitor SN to the three-dimensional interaction of the remnant with the surrounding medium. The post-explosion structure of the ejecta is described by small-scale clumping of material and larger-scale anisotropies. The hydrodynamic multi-species simulations consider an appropriate post-explosion isotopic composition of the ejecta. The observed average expansion rate and shock velocities can be well reproduced by models with ejecta mass $M_{\\rm ej}\\approx 4M_{\\odot}$ and explosion energy $E_{\\rm SN}\\approx 2.3\\times ...

We propose to use the thermal X-ray emission from young supernova remnants (SNRs) originated in Type Ia supernovae (SNe) to extract relevant information concerning the explosion mechanism. We will focus on the differences between numerical 1D and 3D explosion calculations, and the impact that these differences could have on young SNRs. We use the remnant of the Tycho supernova (SN 1572) as a test case to compare with our predictions, discussing the observational features that allow to accept or discard a given model.

The extremely luminous supernova SN2006gy is explained in the same way as other SNIIn events: light is produced by a radiative shock propagating in a dense circumstellar envelope formed by a previous weak explosion. The problems in the theory and observations of multiple-explosion SNe IIn are briefly reviewed.

Feedback from supernovae is an essential aspect of galaxy formation. In order to improve subgrid models of feedback we perform a series of numerical experiments to investigate how supernovaexplosions power galactic winds. We use the Flash hydrodynamic code to model a simplified ISM, including gravity, hydrodynamics, radiative cooling above 10,000 K, and star formation that reproduces the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation. By simulating a small patch of the ISM in a tall box perpendicular to the disk, we obtain sub-parsec resolution allowing us to resolve individual supernova events and we investigate how the wind properties depend on those of the ISM and the galaxy. We find that outflows are more efficient in disks with lower surface densities or gas fractions. A simple model in which the warm cloudy medium is the barrier that limits the expansion of blast waves reproduces the scaling of outflow properties with disk parameters at high star formation rates. The scaling we find sets the investigation of galaxy winds ...

A very close supernovaexplosion could have caused a mass extinction of life in Earth. In 1996, Brian Fields, the late Dave Schramm and the speaker proposed looking for unstable isotopes such as Iron 60 that could have been deposited by a recent nearby supernovaexplosion. A group from the Technical University of Munich has discovered Iron 60 in deep-ocean sediments and ferromanganese crusts due to one or more supernovae that exploded O(100) parsecs away about 2.5 million years ago. These results have recently been confirmed by a group from the Australian National University, and the Munich group has also discovered supernova Iron 60 in lunar rock samples. This talk will discuss the interpretation of these results in terms of supernovamodels, and the possible implications for life on Earth.

We present a new approach to understand the landscape of supernovaexplosion energies, ejected nickel masses, and neutron star birth masses. In contrast to other recent parametric approaches, our model predicts the properties of neutrino-driven explosions based on the pre-collapse stellar structure without the need for hydrodynamic simulations. The model is based on physically motivated scaling laws and simple differential equations describing the shock propagation, the contraction of the neutron star, the neutrino emission, the heating conditions, and the explosion energetics. Using model parameters compatible with multi-D simulations and a fine grid of thousands of supernova progenitors, we obtain a variegated landscape of neutron star and black hole formation similar to other parameterised approaches and find good agreement with semi-empirical measures for the "explodability" of massive stars. Our predicted explosion properties largely conform to observed correlations between the nickel mass and explosion ...

We present the first two-dimensional general relativistic (GR) simulations of stellar core collapse and explosion with the COCONUT hydrodynamics code in combination with the VERTEX solver for energy-dependent, three-flavor neutrino transport, using the extended conformal flatness condition for approximating the space-time metric and a ray-by-ray-plus ansatz to tackle the multi-dimensionality of the transport. For both of the investigated 11.2 and 15 M{sub Sun} progenitors we obtain successful, though seemingly marginal, neutrino-driven supernovaexplosions. This outcome and the time evolution of the models basically agree with results previously obtained with the PROMETHEUS hydro solver including an approximative treatment of relativistic effects by a modified Newtonian potential. However, GR models exhibit subtle differences in the neutrinospheric conditions compared with Newtonian and pseudo-Newtonian simulations. These differences lead to significantly higher luminosities and mean energies of the radiated electron neutrinos and antineutrinos and therefore to larger energy-deposition rates and heating efficiencies in the gain layer with favorable consequences for strong nonradial mass motions and ultimately for an explosion. Moreover, energy transfer to the stellar medium around the neutrinospheres through nucleon recoil in scattering reactions of heavy-lepton neutrinos also enhances the mentioned effects. Together with previous pseudo-Newtonian models, the presented relativistic calculations suggest that the treatment of gravity and energy-exchanging neutrino interactions can make differences of even 50%-100% in some quantities and is likely to contribute to a finally successful explosion mechanism on no minor level than hydrodynamical differences between different dimensions.

The results of recent numerical simulations of supernovaexplosions are presented and a variety of topics discussed. Particular emphasis is given to (i) the nucleosynthesis expected from intermediate mass (10sub solar less than or equal to M less than or equal to 100 Msub solar) Type II supernovae and detonating white dwarf models for Type I supernovae, (ii) a realistic estimate of the ..gamma..-line fluxes expected from this nucleosynthesis, (iii) the continued evolution, in one and two dimensions, of intermediate mass stars wherein iron core collapse does not lead to a strong, mass-ejecting shock wave, and (iv) the evolution and explosion of vary massive stars (M greater than or equal to 100 Msub solar of both Population I and III. In one dimension, nuclear burning following a failed core bounce does not appear likely to lead to a supernovaexplosion although, in two dimensions, a combination of rotation and nuclear burning may do so. Near solar proportions of elements from neon to calcium and very brilliant optical displays may be created by hypernovae, the explosions of stars in the mass range 100 M/sub solar/ to 300 M/sub solar/. Above approx. 300 M/sub solar/ a black hole is created by stellar collapse following carbon ignition. Still more massive stars may be copious producers of /sup 4/He and /sup 14/N prior to their collapse on the pair instability.

We study the effects of Supernova (SN) feedback on the formation of disc galaxies. For that purpose we run simulations using the extended version of the code GADGET-2 which includes a treatment of chemical and energy feedback by SN explosions. We found that our model succeeds in setting a self-regulated star formation process since an important fraction of the cold gas from the center of the haloes is efficiently heated up and transported outwards. The impact of SN feedback on galactic systems is also found to depend on virial mass: smaller systems are more strongly affected with star formation histories in which several starbursts can develop. Our implementation of SN feedback is also successful in producing violent outflows of chemical enriched material.

Multisupernova remnants, driven by sequential supernovaexplosions in OB associations, are modelled by means of two-dimensional hydrodynamical calculations. It is shown that due to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability the remnants quickly evolve into highly irregular structures. A critical evaluation of the multisupernova model as an explanation for supershells is given.

We present a new approach to understand the landscape of supernovaexplosion energies, ejected nickel masses, and neutron star birth masses. In contrast to other recent parametric approaches, our model predicts the properties of neutrino-driven explosions based on the pre-collapse stellar structure without the need for hydrodynamic simulations. The model is based on physically motivated scaling laws and simple differential equations describing the shock propagation, the contraction of the neutron star, the neutrino emission, the heating conditions, and the explosion energetics. Using model parameters compatible with multi-D simulations and a fine grid of thousands of supernova progenitors, we obtain a variegated landscape of neutron star and black hole formation similar to other parametrized approaches and find good agreement with semi-empirical measures for the `explodability' of massive stars. Our predicted explosion properties largely conform to observed correlations between the nickel mass and explosion energy. Accounting for the coexistence of outflows and downflows during the explosion phase, we naturally obtain a positive correlation between explosion energy and ejecta mass. These correlations are relatively robust against parameter variations, but our results suggest that there is considerable leeway in parametric models to widen or narrow the mass ranges for black hole and neutron star formation and to scale explosion energies up or down. Our model is currently limited to an all-or-nothing treatment of fallback and there remain some minor discrepancies between model predictions and observational constraints.

Time-dependent and direction-dependent neutrino and gravitational-wave (GW) signatures are presented for a set of 3D hydrodynamic models of parametrized, neutrino-driven supernovaexplosions of non-rotating 15 and 20 solar mass stars. We employ an approximate treatment of neutrino transport. Due to the excision of the high-density core of the proto-neutron star and the use of an axis-free overset grid, the models can be followed from the post-bounce accretion phase for more than one second without imposing any symmetry restrictions. GW and neutrino emission exhibit the generic time-dependent features known from 2D models. Non-radial hydrodynamic mass motions in the accretion layer and their interaction with the outer layers of the proto-neutron star together with anisotropic neutrino emission give rise to a GW signal with an amplitude of ~5-20 cm and frequencies 100--500 Hz. The GW emission from mass motions reaches a maximum before the explosion sets in. Afterwards the GW signal exhibits a low-frequency modu...

We present a radiative transfer code to model the nebular phase spectra of supernovae (SNe) in non-LTE (NLTE). We apply it to a systematic study of SNe Ia using parameterized 1D models and show how nebular spectral features depend on key physical parameters, such as the time since explosion, total ejecta mass, kinetic energy, radial density profile, and the masses of 56Ni, intermediate-mass elements, and stable iron-group elements. We also quantify the impact of uncertainties in atomic data inputs. We find the following. (1) The main features of SN Ia nebular spectra are relatively insensitive to most physical parameters. Degeneracy among parameters precludes a unique determination of the ejecta properties from spectral fitting. In particular, features can be equally well fit with generic Chandrasekhar mass ({M}{ch}), sub-{M}{Ch}, and super-{M}{Ch} models. (2) A sizable (≳0.1 {M}⊙ ) central region of stable iron-group elements, often claimed as evidence for {M}{Ch} models, is not essential to fit the optical spectra and may produce an unusual flat-top [Co iii] profile. (3) The strength of [S iii] emission near 9500 Å can provide a useful diagnostic of explosion nucleosynthesis. (4) Substantial amounts (≳0.1 {M}⊙ ) of unburned C/O mixed throughout the ejecta produce [O iii] emission not seen in observations. (5) Shifts in the wavelength of line peaks can arise from line-blending effects. (6) The steepness of the ejecta density profile affects the line shapes, offering a constraint on explosionmodels. (7) Uncertainties in atomic data limit the ability to infer physical parameters.

Stars with initial masses such that 10M[symbol: see text] supernova. By contrast, extremely massive stars with M(initial) >or= 140M[symbol: see text] (if such exist) develop oxygen cores with masses, M(core), that exceed 50M[symbol: see text], where high temperatures are reached at relatively low densities. Conversion of energetic, pressure-supporting photons into electron-positron pairs occurs before oxygen ignition and leads to a violent contraction which triggers a nuclear explosion that unbinds the star in a pair-instability supernova. Transitional objects with 100M[symbol: see text] supernovae following violent mass ejections, perhaps as a result of brief episodes of pair instability, and may already have been identified. Here we report observations of supernova SN 2007bi, a luminous, slowly evolving object located within a dwarf galaxy. We estimate the exploding core mass to be M(core) approximately 100M[symbol: see text], in which case theory unambiguously predicts a pair-instability supernova. We show that >3M[symbol: see text] of radioactive (56)Ni was synthesized during the explosion and that our observations are well fitted by models of pair-instability supernovae. This indicates that nearby dwarf galaxies probably host extremely massive stars, above the apparent Galactic stellar mass limit, which perhaps result from processes similar to those that created the first stars in the Universe.

We present modeling of line polarization to study the multidimensional geometry of stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae (SNe). We demonstrate that a purely axisymmetric, two-dimensional (2D) geometry cannot reproduce a loop in the Stokes Q ‑ U diagram, that is, a variation of the polarization angles along the velocities associated with the absorption lines. On the contrary, three-dimensional (3D) clumpy structures naturally reproduce the loop. The fact that the loop is commonly observed in stripped-envelope SNe suggests that SN ejecta generally have a 3D structure. We study the degree of line polarization as a function of the absorption depth for various 3D clumpy models with different clump sizes and covering factors. A comparison between the calculated and observed degree of line polarization indicates that a typical size of the clump is relatively large, ≳25% of the photospheric radius. Such large-scale clumps are similar to those observed in the SN remnant Cassiopeia A. Given the small size of the observed sample, the covering factor of the clumps is only weakly constrained (∼5%–80%). The presence of a large-scale clumpy structure suggests that the large-scale convection or standing accretion shock instability takes place at the onset of the explosion.

Supernovae are the brightest explosions in the universe. Supernovae in our Galaxy, rare and happening only every few centuries, have probably been observed since the beginnings of mankind. At first they were interpreted as religious omens but in the last half millennium they have increasingly been used to study the cosmos and our place in it. Tycho Brahe deduced from his observations of the famous supernova in 1572, that the stars, in contrast to the widely believe Aristotelian doctrine, were not immutable. More than 400 years after Tycho made his paradigm changing discovery using SN 1572, and some 60 years after supernovae had been identified as distant dying stars, two teams changed the view of the world again using supernovae. The found that the Universe was accelerating in its expansion, a conclusion that could most easily be explained if more than 70% of the Universe was some previously un-identified form of matter now often referred to as `Dark Energy'. Beyond their prominent role as tools to gauge our place in the Universe, supernovae themselves have been studied well over the past 75 years. We now know that there are two main physical causes of these cataclysmic events. One of these channels is the collapse of the core of a massive star. The observationally motivated classes Type II, Type Ib and Type Ic have been attributed to these events. This thesis, however is dedicated to the second group of supernovae, the thermonuclear explosions of degenerate carbon and oxygen rich material and lacking hydrogen - called Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). White dwarf stars are formed at the end of a typical star's life when nuclear burning ceases in the core, the outer envelope is ejected, with the degenerate core typically cooling for eternity. Theory predicts that such stars will self ignite when close to 1.38 Msun (called the Chandrasekhar Mass). Most stars however leave white dwarfs with 0.6 Msun, and no star leaves a remnant as heavy as 1.38 M! sun, which suggests

The unprecedented spatial and spectral resolutions of Chandra have revolutionized our view of the X-ray emission from supernova remnants. The excellent data sets accumulated on young, ejecta dominated objects like Cas A or Tycho present a unique opportunity to study at the same time the chemical and physical structure of the explosion debris and the characteristics of the circumstellar medium sculpted by the progenitor before the explosion. Supernova remnants can thus put strong constraints on fundamental aspects of both supernovaexplosion physics and stellar evolution scenarios for supernova progenitors. This view of the supernova phenomenon is completely independent of, and complementary to, the study of distant extragalactic supernovae at optical wavelengths. The calibration of these two techniques has recently become possible thanks to the detection and spectroscopic follow-up of supernova light echoes. In this paper, I will review the most relevant results on supernova remnants obtained during the first...

The short-term increase in cosmic ray intensity caused by a supernova gamma-ray burst as well as the long-term increase resulting from corpuscular particles accelerated during the supernovaexplosion may be investigated by cosmogenic radiocarbon. It is shown that o.alactic supernovae exploding at distances up to 1 kpc from the Earth could cause a measurable increase in radiocarbon concentration in the past. Radiocarbon measurements for the period of the Tycho de Brahe supernova showed negative results.

Since the emergence of the new class of extremely bright transients, super-luminous supernovae (SLSNe), three main mechanisms to power their light curves (LCs) have been discussed. They are the spin-down of a magnetar, interaction with circumstellar material, and the decay of large amounts of radioactive nickel in pair-instability supernovae (PISNe). Given the high degree of diversity seen within the class, it is possible that all three mechanisms are at work. PISN models can be self- consistently simulated from the main sequence phase of very massive stars (VMS) through to their explosion. These models robustly predict large amounts of radioactive nickel and thus very luminous SN events. However, PISN model LCs evolve more slowly than even the slowest evolving SLSNe. Multidimensional effects on the ejecta structure, specifically the mixing of radioactive nickel out to large radii, could alleviate this discrepancy with observation. Here we explore the multidimensional effects on the LC evolution by simulating...

We investigate the role of Alfven waves in the core-collapse supernova (SN) explosion. We assume that Alfven waves are generated by convections inside a proto-neutron star (PNS) and emitted from its surface. Then these waves propagate outwards and dissipate via nonlinear processes and heat up matter around a stalled prompt shock. To quantitatively assess the importance of this process for revival of the stalled shock, we perform 1D time-dependent hydrodynamical simulations, taking into account the heating via the dissipation of Alfven waves. We show that the shock revival occurs if the surface field strength is larger than ~2x10^{15}G and if the amplitude of velocity fluctuation at the PNS surface is larger than ~ 20% of the local sound speed. Interestingly, the Alfven wave mechanism is self-regulating in the sense that the explosion energy is not very sensitive to the surface field strength and initial amplitude of Alfven waves as long as they are larger than the threshold values given above. It should be em...

bound. In addition, for a given asymptotic explosion energy, the amount of mass that reaches explosive nucleosynthesis temperatures is less than heretofore assumed. This may help to solve the 56Ni overproduction problem encountered in previous models of explosive nucleosynthesis. The high-speed fingers that emerge from our model core seem a natural explanation for the nickel bullets seen in SN 1987A and the shrapnel inferred in some supernova remnants. In addition, the vigorous convective motions interior to the shock can impart to the residue recoil velocities and spins. The magnitudes of the former might be within reach of the observed pulsar proper motions, but extensive new calculations remain to be done to verify this. Within 100 ms of the explosion, a strong, neutrino-driven wind is blowing outward from the proto neutron star that clears the interior of mass and, while operative, does not allow fallback. At the base of the rising explosion plumes (in the early wind), a few high-entropy (˜60) clumps are ejected, whose subsequent evolution may prove to be of relevance to the r-process.

The unprecedented spatial and spectral resolutions of Chandra have revolutionized our view of the X-ray emission from supernova remnants. The excellent data sets accumulated on young, ejecta dominated objects like Cas A or Tycho present a unique opportunity to study at the same time the chemical and physical structure of the explosion debris and the characteristics of the circumstellar medium sculpted by the progenitor before the explosion. Supernova remnants can thus put strong constraints o...

We report here on recent progress in understanding the birth conditions of neutron stars and the way how supernovae explode. More sophisticated numerical models have led to the discovery of new phenomena in the supernova core, for example a generic hydrodynamic instability of the stagnant supernova shock against low-mode nonradial deformation and the excitation of gravity-wave activity in the surface and core of the nascent neutron star. Both can have supportive or decisive influence on the inauguration of the explosion, the former by improving the conditions for energy deposition by neutrino heating in the postshock gas, the latter by supplying the developing blast with a flux of acoustic power that adds to the energy transfer by neutrinos. While recent two-dimensional models suggest that the neutrino-driven mechanism may be viable for stars from about 8 solar masses to at least 15 solar masses, acoustic energy input has been advocated as an alternative if neutrino heating fails. Magnetohydrodynamic effects ...

The explosion of core-collapse supernova depends on a sequence of events taking place in less than a second in a region of a few hundred kilometers at the center of a supergiant star, after the stellar core approaches the Chandrasekhar mass and collapses into a proto-neutron star, and before a shock wave is launched across the stellar envelope. Theoretical efforts to understand stellar death focus on the mechanism which transforms the collapse into an explosion. Progress in understanding this mechanism is reviewed with particular attention to its asymmetric character. We highlight a series of successful studies connecting observations of supernova remnants and pulsars properties to the theory of core-collapse using numerical simulations. The encouraging results from first principles models in axisymmetric simulations is tempered by new puzzles in 3D. The diversity of explosion paths and the dependence on the pre-collapse stellar structure is stressed, as well as the need to gain a better understanding of hydr...

The unprecedented spatial and spectral resolutions of Chandra have revolutionized our view of the X-ray emission from supernova remnants. The excellent datasets accumulated on young, ejecta-dominated objects like Cas A or Tycho present a unique opportunity to study at the same time the chemical and physical structure of the explosion debris and the characteristics of the circumstellar medium sculpted by the progenitor before the explosion. Supernova remnants can thus put strong constraints on fundamental aspects of both supernovaexplosion physics and stellar evolution scenarios for supernova progenitors. This view of the supernova phenomenon is completely independent of, and complementary to, the study of distant extragalactic supernovae at optical wavelengths. The calibration of these two techniques has recently become possible thanks to the detection and spectroscopic follow-up of supernova light echoes. In this paper, I review the most relevant results on supernova remnants obtained during the first decade of Chandra and the impact that these results have had on open issues in supernova research.

Thermonuclear supernovae are valuable for cosmology but their physics is not yet fully understood. Modeling the development and propagation of nuclear flame is complicated by numerous instabilities. The predictions of supernova light curves still involve some simplifying assumptions, but one can use the comparison of the computed fluxes with observations to constrain the explosion mechanism. In spite of great progress in recent years, a number of issues remains unsolved both in flame physics and light curve modeling.

The spatial distribution of the metals residing in the intra-cluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters records all the information on a cluster's nucleosynthesis and chemical enrichment history. We present measurements from deep Suzaku and Chandra observations of the cool-core galaxy cluster Abell 3112 out its virial radius (~1470 kpc). We find that the ratio of the observed supernova type Ia explosions to the total supernovaexplosions have a uniform distribution at a level of 12-16% out to the cluster's virial radius. The non-varying supernova enrichment suggests that the ICM was enriched by metals at an early stage before the cluster itself was formed. We also find that the 2D delayed detonations models CDDT produce significantly worse fits to the X-ray spectra compared to simple 1D W7 models. This may indicate that CDDT explosions are not a dominant process of enriching the ICM.

Three-dimensional (3D), time dependent numerical simulations, of flow of matter in stars, now have sufficient resolution to be fully turbulent. The late stages of the evolution of massive stars, leading up to core collapse to a neutron star (or black hole), and often to supernovaexplosion and nucleosynthesis, are strongly convective because of vigorous neutrino cooling and nuclear heating. Unlike models based on current stellar evolutionary practice, these simulations show a chaotic dynamics characteristic of highly turbulent flow. Theoretical analysis of this flow, both in the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) framework and by simple dynamic models, show an encouraging consistency with the numerical results. It may now be possible to develop physically realistic and robust procedures for convection and mixing which (unlike 3D numerical simulation) may be applied throughout the long life times of stars. In addition, a new picture of the presupernova stages is emerging which is more dynamic and interesti...

By performing a series of one- and two-dimensional (1-, 2D) hydrodynamic simulations with spectral neutrino transport, we study possible impacts of collective neutrino oscillations on the dynamics of core-collapse supernovae. To model the spectral swapping which is one of the possible outcome of the collective neutrino oscillations, we parametrize the onset time when the spectral swap begins, the radius where the spectral swap occurs, and the threshold energy above which the spectral interchange between heavy-lepton neutrinos and electron/anti-electron neutrinos takes place, respectively. By doing so, we systematically study how the neutrino heating enhanced by the spectral swapping could affect the shock evolution as well as the matter ejection. We also investigate the progenitor dependence using a suite of progenitor models (13, 15, 20, and 25 $M_\\odot$). We find that there is a critical heating rate induced by the spectral swapping to trigger explosions, which significantly differs between the progenitors....

We present the discovery, photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations of SN 2010X (PTF 10bhp). This supernova decays exponentially with tau_d=5 days, and rivals the current recordholder in speed, SN 2002bj. SN 2010X peaks at M_r=-17mag and has mean velocities of 10,000 km/s. Our light curve modeling suggests a radioactivity powered event and an ejecta mass of 0.16 Msun. If powered by Nickel, we show that the Nickel mass must be very small (0.02 Msun) and that the supernova quickly becomes optically thin to gamma-rays. Our spectral modeling suggests that SN 2010X and SN 2002bj have similar chemical compositions and that one of Aluminum or Helium is present. If Aluminum is present, we speculate that this may be an accretion induced collapse of an O-Ne-Mg white dwarf. If Helium is present, all observables of SN 2010X are consistent with being a thermonuclear Helium shell detonation on a white dwarf, a ".Ia" explosion. With the 1-day dynamic-cadence experiment on the Palomar Transient Factory, we expect ...

We present the discovery, photometric, and spectroscopic follow-up observations of SN 2010X (PTF 10bhp). This supernova decays exponentially with τ d = 5 days and rivals the current recordholder in speed, SN 2002bj. SN 2010X peaks at M r = -17 mag and has mean velocities of 10,000 km s-1. Our light curve modeling suggests a radioactivity-powered event and an ejecta mass of 0.16 M sun. If powered by Nickel, we show that the Nickel mass must be very small (≈0.02 M sun) and that the supernova quickly becomes optically thin to γ-rays. Our spectral modeling suggests that SN 2010X and SN 2002bj have similar chemical compositions and that one of aluminum or helium is present. If aluminum is present, we speculate that this may be an accretion-induced collapse of an O-Ne-Mg white dwarf. If helium is present, all observables of SN 2010X are consistent with being a thermonuclear helium shell detonation on a white dwarf, a ".Ia" explosion. With the 1 day dynamic-cadence experiment on the Palomar Transient Factory, we expect to annually discover a few such events.

Recent hydrodynamical simulations of supernova (SN) evolution have highlighted the importance of a thorough control over microscopic physics responsible for such internal processes as neutrino heating. In particular, it has been suggested that modifications to the neutrino-nucleon elastic cross section can potentially play a crucial role in producing successful supernovaexplosions. One possible source of such corrections can be found in a nonzero value for the nucleon's strange helicity content $\\Delta s$. In the present analysis, however, we show that theoretical and experimental progress over the past decade has suggested a comparatively small magnitude for $\\Delta s$, such that its sole effect is not sufficient to provide the physics leading to supernovaexplosions.

Population III supernovae have been the focus of growing attention because of their potential to directly probe the properties of the first stars, particularly the most energetic events that can be seen at the edge of the observable universe. But until now pair-pulsation supernovae, in which explosive thermonuclear burning in massive stars fails to unbind them but can eject their outer layers into space, have been overlooked as cosmic beacons at the earliest redshifts. These shells can later collide and, like Type IIn supernovae, produce superluminous events in the UV at high redshifts that could be detected in the near infrared today. We present numerical simulations of a 110 M$_{\\odot}$ pair-pulsation explosion done with the Los Alamos radiation hydrodynamics code RAGE. We find that collisions between consecutive pair pulsations are visible in the near infrared out to z $\\sim$ 15 - 20 and can probe the earliest stellar populations at cosmic dawn.

Supernovae are a rich source of information. By studying their light curves and spectra we gain insights into stellar evolution, the nature of the progenitor star, surface abundances at the time of the explosion, whether previous mass-loss episodes have occurred, the physics of the explosion including the amount and type of elements synthesized, and whether the explosion has produced significant mixing between shells of different chemical composition. To maximize the information that can be gleaned from observations of supernovae it is essential that we have the necessary spectroscopic tools. To this end, we are developing a code, CMFGEN, capable of modelingsupernova light curves and spectra. The code is currently being used, to study core-collapse supernovae as well as those arising from the nuclear detonation of a White Dwarf star. We wish to extend CMFGEN's capabilities by developing a procedure to handle non-monotonic velocity flows so that we can treat shock breakout and the interaction of supernova ejecta with circumstellar material. We will also investigate magnetar-powered SNe, and explore the connection between Type Ib and Type Ic supernovae and those supernovae associated with long-duration gamma-ray bursters. Through detailed studies of individual supernova, and through the construction of model grids, we are able to infer deficiencies in our modeling, in our atomic data, and in the progenitor models, and hence make refinements so that we can improve our understanding of all SNe classes. Previous (IUE), current (HST, Chandra, GALEX), and future NASA missions (James Webb Telescope) do/will provide a wealth of data on supernovae. The proposed research is related to strategic subgoal 3D: "Discover the origin, structure, evolution, and destiny of the universe, and search for Earth-like planets." Supernovae are inherently coupled to the evolution of the universe and life: They can trigger star formation and they provide the raw materials (e.g., oxygen

Type II supernovaexplosions are the product of the collapse of massive stars (M > 8-10 Msun), which explode with a kinetic energy release of 1e51 erg. While sophisticated multi-dimensional models can reveal details of the explosion mechanism (role of convection, fluid instabilities, etc.), they are computationally too expensive for nucleosynthesis studies. However, precise nucleosynthesis predictions are needed to understand the supernova contribution to the heavy elements and the abundances observed in metal-poor stars. We have modeled the core collapse, bounce and subsequent explosion of massive stars assuming spherical symmetry with the code Agile-IDSA (Liebendoerfer et al. 2009) combined with a novel method to artificially trigger the explosion (PUSH). The code also includes the Hempel EOS, which uses a modern non-NSE to cover the entire nucleosynthesis duration. In our simulations, based on the neutrino-delayed explosion mechanism, the explosion sets in by depositing a small amount of additional energy (from mu and tau neutrinos) to revive the stalled shock. Our results show that the code Agile-IDSA combined with PUSH is very robust and can successfully reproduce an explosion with a more reliable treatment of the crucial quantities involved in nucleosynthesis (i.e., the electron fraction). Here, we present a detailed isotopic abundance study for a wide variety of progenitors, as well as an analysis of the explosion properties, such as the explosion energies, remnant masses or compactness of the progenitor models.

Integral field spectroscopy of 11 type-Ib/c supernovaexplosion sites in nearby galaxies has been obtained using UH88/SNIFS and Gemini-N/GMOS. The use of integral field spectroscopy enables us to obtain both spatial and spectral information of the explosion site, allowing the identification of the parent stellar population of the supernova progenitor star. The spectrum of the parent population provides metallicity determination via strong-line method and age estimation obtained via comparison with simple stellar population (SSP) models. We adopt this information as the metallicity and age of the supernova progenitor, under the assumption that it was coeval with the parent stellar population. The age of the star corresponds to its lifetime, which in turn gives the estimate of its initial mass. With this method we were able to determine both the metallicity and initial (ZAMS) mass of the progenitor stars of the type Ib and Ic supernovae. We found that on average SN Ic explosion sites are more metal-rich and you...

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have been an important tool for astronomy for quite some time; however, the nature of their progenitors remains somewhat mysterious. Recent theoretical studies indicated the possibility of producing thermonuclear detonations of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs (CO WDs) at masses less than the Chandrasekhar mass through accretion of helium-rich matter, which would, depending on mass accretion rate, mass, and initial temperature of the WD, spectrally resemble either a normal SN Ia or a peculiar one. This study aims to further resolve the state of binary systems comprised of a sub-Chandrasekhar-mass CO WD and a helium star at the point where an accretion-induced detonation occurs and constrains the part of the initial parameter space where this kind of phenomenon is possible. Preexisting data obtained through simulations of single, constantly accreting CO WDs is used as an indicator for the behavior of new binary models in which the WD is treated as a point mass and which include the non-de...

The evolutionary path of rotating CO white dwarfs (WD) directly accreting CO-rich matter is followed up to a few seconds before the explosive breakout in the framework of the double degenerate (DD) rotationally driven accretion scenario. We compute several models with different initial masses and physical conditions, following all the evolutionary phases, from the heating process during the pre-merging phase, through the two self-regulated accretion phases, up to the final central C-ignition and the development of an extended convective core. We find that the evolutionary properties (both structural and observational) depend only on the actual mass of the accreting WD and not on the previous history. We determine the expected frequency and amplitude of the gravitational wave emission, which occurs during the mass transfer process and, as a matter of fact, acts as a self-tuning mechanism of the accretion process itself. The gravitational signal related to Galactic sources can be easily detected with the next generation of space-born interferometers and can provide notable constraints to the progenitor model. The expected statistical distribution of pre-explosive objects in the Galaxy is provided also in the effective temperature-apparent bolometric magnitude diagrams which can be used to identify merged DD systems via UV surveys, once the contribution of the accretion disc is properly taken into account. We emphasize that the thermonuclear explosion occurs owing to the decay of physical conditions keeping overstable the structure above the classical Chandrasekhar limit and not by a steady increase of the WD mass up to this limit. This conclusion is independent of the evolutionary scenario for the progenitors, but it is a direct consequence of the stabilizing effect of rotation. Such an occurrence represents an epistemological change of the perspective in defining the ignition process for accreting WDs. Moreover, this requires a long evolutionary period (of at least

Here is considered the full evolution of a spherical supernova remnant. We start by calculating the early time ejecta dominated stage and continue through the different phases of interaction with the circumstellar medium, and end with the dissipation and merger phase. The physical connection between the phases reveals new results. One is that the blast wave radius during the adiabatic phase is significantly smaller than it would be, if one does notaccount for the blast wave interaction with the ejecta.

For the rst time heavy element nucleosynthesis in the magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) explosions of core-collapse supernovae are investigated using a massive star of 13M. in a main sequence stage. Contrary to the case of the spherical explosion, jet-like explosion due to the combined effects of the rotation and magnetic eld lowers the electron fraction signi cantly inside the layers above the Fe-core. Then, the anisotropic shock waves pass through the oxygen rich layers. As a consequence, we nd that the nucleosynthesis of the r- and p-process proceeds appreciably compared to the models previously considered.

We present results of a systematic study of the mass-loss properties of Type IIn supernova progenitors within decades before their explosion. We apply an analytic light curve model to 11 Type IIn supernova bolometric light curves to derive the circumstellar medium properties. We reconstruct the mass-loss histories based on the estimated circumstellar medium properties. The estimated mass-loss rates are mostly higher than 1e-3 Msun/yr and they are consistent with those obtained by other methods. The mass-loss rates are often found to be constantly high within decades before their explosion. This indicates that there exists some mechanism to sustain the high mass-loss rates of Type IIn supernova progenitors for at least decades before their explosion. Thus, the shorter eruptive mass loss events observed in some Type IIn supernova progenitors are not always responsible for creating their dense circumstellar media. In addition, we find that Type IIn supernova progenitors may tend to increase their mass-loss rates...

Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are believed to be thermonuclear explosions of a white dwarf, and are one of the most mature cosmological standardized candles. However, the explosion mechanism has not yet been fully clarified. Furthermore, they show observational diversities which may be a consequence of either the diversity in the explosion physics and/or surrounding environments, an issue yet to be clarified. In this paper, it is argued that an asymmetry in the explosion is likely a generic feature, and that the diversity arising from various viewing angles can be an origin of observational diversities of SNe Ia seen in their spectral features (suspected possible biases in cosmology) and colors (related to the extinction estimate in cosmology). These findings indicate that at least a part of observational diversities are intrinsic, rather than caused by environment effects, and open up a possibility of using SNe Ia as more precise distance indicators than currently employed.

We derive an integral condition for core-collapse supernovaexplosions and use it to construct a new diagnostic of explodability. The fundamental challenge in core-collapse supernova theory is to explain how a stalled accretion shock revives to explode a star. In this manuscript, we assume that shock revival is initiated by the delayed-neutrino mechanism and derive an integral condition for shock expansion, $v_s > 0$. Assuming that $v_s > 0$ corresponds to explosion, we recast this integral condition as a dimensionless condition for explosion, $\\Psi > 0$. Using 1D simulations, we confirm that $\\Psi = 0$ during the stalled phase and $\\Psi > 0$ during explosion. Having validated the integral condition, we use it to derive a useful explosion diagnostic. First, for a given set of parameters, we find the family of solutions to the steady-state equations, parameterized by shock radius $R_s$, yielding $\\Psi(R_s)$. For any particular solution, $\\Psi(R_s)$ may be negative, zero, or positive, and, since $\\Psi \\propto v...

Core collapse supernovae, or the death throes of massive stars, are general relativistic, neutrino-magneto-hydrodynamic events. The core collapse supernova mechanism is still not in hand, though key components have been illuminated, and the potential for multiple mechanisms for different progenitors exists. Core collapse supernovae are the single most important source of elements in the Universe, and serve other critical roles in galactic chemical and thermal evolution, the birth of neutron stars, pulsars, and stellar mass black holes, the production of a subclass of gamma-ray bursts, and as potential cosmic laboratories for fundamental nuclear and particle physics. Given this, the so called ``supernova problem'' is one of the most important unsolved problems in astrophysics. It has been fifty years since the first numerical simulations of core collapse supernovae were performed. Progress in the past decade, and especially within the past five years, has been exponential, yet much work remains. Spherically symmetric simulations over nearly four decades laid the foundation for this progress. Two-dimensional modeling that assumes axial symmetry is maturing. And three-dimensional modeling, while in its infancy, has begun in earnest. I will present some of the recent work from the ``Oak Ridge'' group, and will discuss this work in the context of the broader work by other researchers in the field. I will then point to future requirements and challenges. Connections with other experimental, observational, and theoretical efforts will be discussed, as well.

We examine the possibility that a nearby supernovaexplosion could have caused one or more of the mass extinctions identified by palaeontologists. We discuss the likely rate of such events in the light of the recent identification of Geminga as a supernova remnant less than 100 pc away and the discovery of a millisecond pulsar about 150 pc away, and observations of SN 1987A. The fluxes of $\\gamma$ radiation and charged cosmic rays on the Earth are estimated, and their effects on the Earth's ozone layer discussed. A supernovaexplosion of the order of 10 pc away could be expected every few hundred million years, and could destroy the ozone layer for hundreds of years, letting in potentially lethal solar ultraviolet radiation. In addition to effects on land ecology, this could entail mass destruction of plankton and reef communities, with disastrous consequences for marine life as well. A supernova extinction should be distinguishable from a meteorite impact such as the one that presumably killed the dinosaurs.

We present a set of high resolution simulations studying the effect of supernovaexplosions on magnetized, primordial halos. We focus on the evolution of an initially small-scale magnetic field formed during the collapse of the halo. We vary the degree of magnetization, the halo mass, and the amount of explosion energy in order to account for expected variations as well as to infer systematical dependencies of the results on initial conditions. Our simulations suggest that core collapse supernovae with an explosion energy of 10^51 erg and more violent pair instability supernovae with 10^53 erg are able to disrupt halos with masses up to a few 10^6 and 10^7 M_sun, respectively. The peak of the magnetic field spectra shows a continuous shift towards smaller k-values, i.e. larger length scales, over time reaching values as low as k = 4. On small scales the magnetic energy decreases at the cost of the energy on large scales resulting in well-ordered magnetic field with strengths up to about 10^-8 G depending on t...

Full Text Available Three-dimensional (3D, time dependent numerical simulations of flow of matter in stars, now have sufficient resolution to be fully turbulent. The late stages of the evolution of massive stars, leading up to core collapse to a neutron star (or black hole, and often to supernovaexplosion and nucleosynthesis, are strongly convective because of vigorous neutrino cooling and nuclear heating. Unlike models based on current stellar evolutionary practice, these simulations show a chaotic dynamics characteristic of highly turbulent flow. Theoretical analysis of this flow, both in the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS framework and by simple dynamic models, show an encouraging consistency with the numerical results. It may now be possible to develop physically realistic and robust procedures for convection and mixing which (unlike 3D numerical simulation may be applied throughout the long life times of stars. In addition, a new picture of the presupernova stages is emerging which is more dynamic and interesting (i.e., predictive of new and newly observed phenomena than our previous one.

Current observations stimulate the production of fully three-dimensional explosionmodels, which in turn motivates three-dimensional spectrum synthesis for supernova atmospheres. We briefly discuss techniques adapted to address the latter problem, and consider some fundamentals of line formation in supernovae without recourse to spherical symmetry. Direct and detailed extensions of the technique are discussed, and future work is outlined.

Some observations suggest that very massive stars experience extreme mass-loss episodes shortly before they explode as supernovae, as do several models. Establishing a causal connection between these mass-loss episodes and the final explosion would provide a novel way to study pre-supernova massive-star evolution. Here we report observations of a mass-loss event detected 40 days before the explosion of the type IIn supernova SN 2010mc (also known as PTF 10tel). Our photometric and spectroscopic data suggest that this event is a result of an energetic outburst, radiating at least 6 × 10(47) erg of energy and releasing about 10(-2) solar masses of material at typical velocities of 2,000 km s(-1). The temporal proximity of the mass-loss outburst and the supernovaexplosion implies a causal connection between them. Moreover, we find that the outburst luminosity and velocity are consistent with the predictions of the wave-driven pulsation model, and disfavour alternative suggestions.

Core-collapse supernovae (CC-SNe) are the explosions that announce the death of massive stars. Some CC-SNe are linked to long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and are highly aspherical. One important question is to what extent asphericity is common to all CC-SNe. Here we present late-time spectra for a number of CC-SNe from stripped-envelope stars and use them to explore any asphericity generated in the inner part of the exploding star, near the site of collapse. A range of oxygen emission-line profiles is observed, including a high incidence of double-peaked profiles, a distinct signature of an aspherical explosion. Our results suggest that all CC-SNe from stripped-envelope stars are aspherical explosions and that SNe accompanied by GRBs exhibit the highest degree of asphericity.

Super-luminous supernovae that radiate more than 1044 ergs per second at their peak luminosity have recently been discovered in faint galaxies at redshifts of 0.1-4. Some evolve slowly, resembling models of `pair-instability' supernovae. Such models involve stars with original masses 140-260 times that of the Sun that now have carbon-oxygen cores of 65-130 solar masses. In these stars, the photons that prevent gravitational collapse are converted to electron-positron pairs, causing rapid contraction and thermonuclear explosions. Many solar masses of 56Ni are synthesized; this isotope decays to 56Fe via 56Co, powering bright light curves. Such massive progenitors are expected to have formed from metal-poor gas in the early Universe. Recently, supernova 2007bi in a galaxy at redshift 0.127 (about 12 billion years after the Big Bang) with a metallicity one-third that of the Sun was observed to look like a fading pair-instability supernova. Here we report observations of two slow-to-fade super-luminous supernovae that show relatively fast rise times and blue colours, which are incompatible with pair-instability models. Their late-time light-curve and spectral similarities to supernova 2007bi call the nature of that event into question. Our early spectra closely resemble typical fast-declining super-luminous supernovae, which are not powered by radioactivity. Modelling our observations with 10-16 solar masses of magnetar-energized ejecta demonstrates the possibility of a common explosion mechanism. The lack of unambiguous nearby pair-instability events suggests that their local rate of occurrence is less than 6 × 10-6 times that of the core-collapse rate.

Super-luminous supernovae that radiate more than 10(44) ergs per second at their peak luminosity have recently been discovered in faint galaxies at redshifts of 0.1-4. Some evolve slowly, resembling models of 'pair-instability' supernovae. Such models involve stars with original masses 140-260 times that of the Sun that now have carbon-oxygen cores of 65-130 solar masses. In these stars, the photons that prevent gravitational collapse are converted to electron-positron pairs, causing rapid contraction and thermonuclear explosions. Many solar masses of (56)Ni are synthesized; this isotope decays to (56)Fe via (56)Co, powering bright light curves. Such massive progenitors are expected to have formed from metal-poor gas in the early Universe. Recently, supernova 2007bi in a galaxy at redshift 0.127 (about 12 billion years after the Big Bang) with a metallicity one-third that of the Sun was observed to look like a fading pair-instability supernova. Here we report observations of two slow-to-fade super-luminous supernovae that show relatively fast rise times and blue colours, which are incompatible with pair-instability models. Their late-time light-curve and spectral similarities to supernova 2007bi call the nature of that event into question. Our early spectra closely resemble typical fast-declining super-luminous supernovae, which are not powered by radioactivity. Modelling our observations with 10-16 solar masses of magnetar-energized ejecta demonstrates the possibility of a common explosion mechanism. The lack of unambiguous nearby pair-instability events suggests that their local rate of occurrence is less than 6 × 10(-6) times that of the core-collapse rate.

Measurements of explosive nucleosynthesis yields in core-collapse supernovae provide tests for explosionmodels. We investigate constraints on explosive conditions derivable from measured amounts of nickel and iron after radioactive decays using nucleosynthesis networks with parameterized thermodynamic trajectories. The Ni/Fe ratio is for most regimes dominated by the production ratio of 58Ni/(54Fe + 56Ni), which tends to grow with higher neutron excess and with higher entropy. For SN 2012ec, a supernova that produced a Ni/Fe ratio of $3.4\\pm1.2$ times solar, we find that burning of a fuel with neutron excess $\\eta \\approx 6\\times 10^{-3}$ is required. Unless the progenitor metallicity is over 5 times solar, the only layer in the progenitor with such a neutron excess is the silicon shell. Supernovae producing large amounts of stable nickel thus suggest that this deep-lying layer can be, at least partially, ejected in the explosion. We find that common spherically symmetric models of $M_{\\rm ZAMS} \\lesssim 13$...

The explosion mechanism behind Type Ia supernovae is a matter of continuing debate. The diverse attempts to identify or at least constrain the physical processes involved in the explosion have been only partially successful so far. In this paper we propose to use the thermal X-ray emission from young supernova remnants originated in Type Ia events to extract relevant information concerning the explosions themselves. We have produced a grid of thermonuclear supernovamodels representative of the paradigms currently under debate: pure deflagrations, delayed detonations, pulsating delayed detonations and sub-Chandrasekhar explosions, using their density and chemical composition profiles to simulate the interaction with the surrounding ambient medium and the ensuing plasma heating, non-equilibrium ionization and thermal X-ray emission of the ejecta. Key observational parameters such as electron temperatures, emission measures and ionization time scales are presented and discussed. We find that not only is it poss...

We investigate the consequences of fairly normal Type Ia supernovae being embedded in compact and dense envelopes of carbon and oxygen rich circumstellar material by means of detailed radiation hydrodynamic simulations. Our main focus rests on exploring the effects of the interaction between ejecta and circumstellar material on the ejecta evolution and the broad-band light curve. In our calculations, we find that a strong reverse shock efficiently decelerates and compresses the ejecta material. This leads to a significant broadening of the optical light curve, a longer rise to maximum and a slower decline in the tail phase. During the interaction, substantial radiative energy is generated, which mostly emerges in the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray regime. Only if reprocessing due to radiation-matter interactions is very efficient, a significant boost in the optical light curve is observed. We discuss these findings in particular in the context of the super-luminous event SN 2009dc. As our calculations are able...

We describe observed properties of the Type Iax class of supernovae (SNe Iax), consisting of SNe observationally similar to its prototypical member, SN 2002cx. The class currently has 25 members, and we present optical photometry and/or optical spectroscopy for most of them. SNe Iax are spectroscopically similar to SNe Ia, but have lower maximum-light velocities (2000 {approx}< |v| {approx}< 8000 km s{sup -1}), typically lower peak magnitudes (-14.2 {>=} M{sub V,{sub peak}} {approx}> -18.9 mag), and most have hot photospheres. Relative to SNe Ia, SNe Iax have low luminosities for their light-curve shape. There is a correlation between luminosity and light-curve shape, similar to that of SNe Ia, but offset from that of SNe Ia and with larger scatter. Despite a host-galaxy morphology distribution that is highly skewed to late-type galaxies without any SNe Iax discovered in elliptical galaxies, there are several indications that the progenitor stars are white dwarfs (WDs): evidence of C/O burning in their maximum-light spectra, low (typically {approx}0.5 M{sub Sun }) ejecta masses, strong Fe lines in their late-time spectra, a lack of X-ray detections, and deep limits on massive stars and star formation at the SN sites. However, two SNe Iax show strong He lines in their spectra. The progenitor system and explosionmodel that best fits all of the data is a binary system of a C/O WD that accretes matter from a He star and has a deflagration. At least some of the time, this explosion will not disrupt the WD. The small number of SNe in this class prohibit a detailed analysis of the homogeneity and heterogeneity of the entire class. We estimate that in a given volume there are 31{sup +17}{sub -13} SNe Iax for every 100 SNe Ia, and for every 1 M{sub Sun} of iron generated by SNe Ia at z = 0, SNe Iax generate {approx}0.036 M{sub Sun }. Being the largest class of peculiar SNe, thousands of SNe Iax will be discovered by LSST. Future detailed observations of SNe Iax should

Recent experimental results have confirmed a possible reduction in the GT$_+$ strengths of pf-shell nuclei. These proton-rich nuclei are of relevance in the deflagration and explosive burning phases of Type Ia supernovae. While prior GT strengths result in nucleosynthesis predictions with a lower-than-expected electron fraction, a reduction in the GT$_+$ strength can result in an slightly increased electron fraction compared to previous shell model predictions, though the enhancement is not as large as previous enhancements in going from rates computed by Fuller, Fowler, and Newman based on an independent particle model. A shell model parametrization has been developed which more closely matches experimental GT strengths. The resultant electron-capture rates are used in nucleosynthesis calculations for carbon deflagration and explosion phases of Type Ia supernovae, and the final mass fractions are compared to those obtained using more commonly-used rates.

Full Text Available The neutrino-induced nucleosynthesis (ν process in supernovaexplosions of massive stars of solar metallicity with initial main sequence masses between 15 and 40 M⊙ has been studied. A new extensive set of neutrino-nucleus cross-sections for all the nuclei included in the reaction network is used and the average neutrino energies are reduced to agree with modern supernova simulations. Despite these changes the ν process is found to contribute still significantly to the production of the nuclei 7Li, 11B, 19F, 138La and 180Ta, even though the total yields for those nuclei are reduced. Furthermore we study in detail contributions of the ν process to the production of radioactive isotopes 26Al, 22Na and confirm the production of 92Nb and 98Tc.

We study the occurrence of delayed SNe~Ia in the single degenerate (SD) scenario. We assume that a massive carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarf (WD) accretes matter coming from a companion star, making it to spin at the critical rate. We assume uniform rotation due to magnetic field coupling. The carbon ignition mass for non-rotating WDs is M_{ig}^{NR} \\approx 1.38 M_{\\odot}; while for the case of uniformly rotating WDs it is a few percent larger (M_{ig}^{R} \\approx 1.43 M_{\\odot}). When accretion rate decreases, the WD begins to lose angular momentum, shrinks, and spins up; however, it does not overflow its critical rotation rate, avoiding mass shedding. Thus, angular momentum losses can lead the CO WD interior to compression and carbon ignition, which would induce an SN~Ia. The delay, largely due to the angular momentum losses timescale, may be large enough to allow the companion star to evolve to a He WD, becoming undetectable at the moment of explosion. This scenario supports the occurrence of delayed SNe~Ia if...

This report discusses supernova light simulations. A brief review of supernovae, basics of supernova light curves, simulation tools used at LANL, and supernova results are included. Further, it happens that many of the same methods used to generate simulated supernova light curves can also be used to model the emission from fireballs generated by explosions in the earth’s atmosphere.

We derive an integral condition for core-collapse supernova (CCSN) explosions and use it to construct a new diagnostic of explodability. The fundamental challenge in CCSN theory is to explain how a stalled accretion shock revives to explode a star. In this manuscript, we assume that the shock revival is initiated by the delayed-neutrino mechanism and derive an integral condition for spherically symmetric shock expansion, vs > 0. One of the most useful one-dimensional explosion conditions is the neutrino luminosity and mass-accretion rate ({L}ν {--}\\dot{{ M }}) critical curve. Below this curve, steady-state stalled solutions exist, but above this curve, there are no stalled solutions. Burrows & Goshy suggested that the solutions above this curve are dynamic and explosive. In this manuscript, we take one step closer to proving this supposition; we show that all steady solutions above this curve have vs > 0. Assuming that these steady vs > 0 solutions correspond to explosion, we present a new dimensionless integral condition for explosion, Ψ > 0. Ψ roughly describes the balance between pressure and gravity, and we show that this parameter is equivalent to the τ condition used to infer the {L}ν {--}\\dot{{ M }} critical curve. The illuminating difference is that there is a direct relationship between Ψ and vs. Below the critical curve, Ψ may be negative, positive, and zero, which corresponds to receding, expanding, and stalled-shock solutions. At the critical curve, the minimum Ψ solution is zero; above the critical curve, Ψmin > 0, and all steady solutions have vs > 0. Using one-dimensional simulations, we confirm our primary assumptions and verify that Ψmin > 0 is a reliable and accurate explosion diagnostic.

Core-collapse supernovae are among the most powerful explosions in the Universe, releasing about 1053 erg of energy on timescales of a few tens of seconds. These explosion events are also responsible for the production and dissemination of most of the heavy elements, making life as we know it possible. Yet exactly how they work is still unresolved. One reason for this is the sheer complexity and cost of a self-consistent, multi-physics, and multi-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulation, which is impractical, and often impossible, even on the largest supercomputers we have available today. To advance our understanding we instead must often use simplified models, teasing out the most important ingredients for successful explosions, while helping us to interpret results from higher fidelity multi-physics models. In this paper we investigate the role of instabilities in the core-collapse supernova environment. We present here simulation and visualization results produced by our code GenASiS.

Core-collapse supernovae are among the most powerful explosions in the Universe, releasing about $10^{53}~\\mbox{erg}$ of energy on timescales of a few tens of seconds. These explosion events are also responsible for the production and dissemination of most of the heavy elements, making life as we know it possible. Yet exactly how they work is still unresolved. One reason for this is the sheer complexity and cost of a self-consistent, multi-physics, and multi-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulation, which is impractical, and often impossible, even on the largest supercomputers we have available today. To advance our understanding we instead must often use simplified models, teasing out the most important ingredients for successful explosions, while helping us to interpret results from higher fidelity multi-physics models. In this paper we investigate the role of instabilities in the core-collapse supernova environment. We present here simulation and visualization results produced by our code GenASiS.

- dispersed radio telescopes has existed for only a few years. Supernova 1993J was the first one that was both close enough and had radio emission strong enough to enable scientists to make such detailed images. While the circular images show that the explosion debris is expanding symmetrically, the radio emission is stronger on one side of the shell. The explanation for this is unclear. Some astronomers have suggested that the stronger emission could result from the debris interacting with a companion star orbiting the one that exploded. The researchers believe that their sequence of images, with the stronger emission persisting for months after the explosion, makes the companion-star hypothesis unlikely. Previous radio observations of older and larger supernova shells have revealed protrusions within the shell. The latest images, however, show no such protrusions. This places limits on theories of how the protrusions form. In addition, the new images show that Supernova 1993J's debris shell has shown no signs yet of slowing due to interaction with material surrounding it. The material from the star's explosion is moving at nearly 10,000 miles per second, according to the researchers. At that speed, the material would travel the distance from the Earth to Saturn in one day. When the angular expansion rate of the supernova debris measured by the radio observatories is combined with the expansion speed of the same debris, measured by optical astronomers, it is possible to obtain an accurate value of the distance to M81. The value determined, 11 million light-years, is similar to that obtained by other, independent, means. This is important, as astronomers continue to seek more accurate distances to celestial objects to better gauge the actual size of the Universe. In addition to the VLA and several antennas of the VLBA, the scientists used German and Italian radio telescopes, as well as NASA facilities in California and Spain.

In this work we present a detailed explanation of the construction of an appropriate equation of state (EoS) for nuclear astrophysics. We use a relativistic model in order to obtain an EoS for neutrally charged matter that extends from very low to high densities, from zero temperature to 100 MeV with proton fractions ranging from 0 (no protons) to 0.6 (asymmetric matter with proton excess). For the achievement of complete convergence, the Sommerfeld approximation is used at low temperatures and the Boltzman distribution for relativistic particles is used in the calculation of the electron properties at very low densities. Photons are also incorporated as blackbody radiation. An extension of this EoS is also presented with the inclusion of strangeness by taking into account the sigma minus hyperon only. Strangeness fractions range from 0.02 to 0.3.

Thirteen explosion sites of type II-P and II-L supernovae in nearby galaxies have been observed using integral field spectroscopy, enabling both spatial and spectral study of the explosion sites. We used the properties of the parent stellar population of the coeval supernova progenitor star to derive its metallicity and initial mass (c.f. Paper I). The spectrum of the parent stellar population yields the estimates of metallicity via strong-line method, and age via comparison with simple stellar population (SSP) models. These metallicity and age parameters are adopted for the progenitor star. Age, or lifetime of the star, was used to derive initial (ZAMS) mass of the star by comparing with stellar evolution models. With this technique, we were able to determine metallicity and initial mass of the SN progenitors in our sample. Our result indicates that some type-II supernova progenitors may have been stars with mass comparable to SN Ib/c progenitors.

Super-luminous supernovae that radiate more than 10^44 ergs per second at their peak luminosity have recently been discovered in faint galaxies at redshifts of 0.1-4. Some evolve slowly, resembling models of 'pair-instability' supernovae. Such models involve stars with original masses 140-260 times that of the Sun that now have carbon-oxygen cores of 65-30 solar masses. In these stars, the photons that prevent gravitational collapse are converted to electron-positron pairs, causing rapid contraction and thermonuclear explosions. Many solar masses of 56Ni are synthesized; this isotope decays to 56Fe via 56Co, powering bright light curves. Such massive progenitors are expected to have formed from metal-poor gas in the early Universe. Recently, supernova 2007bi in a galaxy at redshift 0.127 (about 12 billion years after the Big Bang) with a metallicity one-third that of the Sun was observed to look like a fading pair-instability supernova. Here we report observations of two slow-to-fade super-luminous supernovae...

A detection of a core-collapse supernova (CCSN) gravitational-wave (GW) signal with an Advanced LIGO and Virgo detector network may allow us to measure astrophysical parameters of the dying massive star. GWs are emitted from deep inside the core, and, as such, they are direct probes of the CCSN explosion mechanism. In this study, we show how we can determine the CCSN explosion mechanism from a GW supernova detection using a combination of principal component analysis and Bayesian model selection. We use simulations of GW signals from CCSN exploding via neutrino-driven convection and rapidly rotating core collapse. Previous studies have shown that the explosion mechanism can be determined using one LIGO detector and simulated Gaussian noise. As real GW detector noise is both nonstationary and non-Gaussian, we use real detector noise from a network of detectors with a sensitivity altered to match the advanced detectors design sensitivity. For the first time, we carry out a careful selection of the number of principal components to enhance our model selection capabilities. We show that with an advanced detector network we can determine if the CCSN explosion mechanism is driven by neutrino convection for sources in our Galaxy and rapidly-rotating core collapse for sources out to the Large Magellanic Cloud.

The ongoing quest to simulate explosions of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) in hydrodynamical calculations has placed an enormous premium upon the nuclear and hadronic processes integral to the system's evolution (i.e., the microphysics). In this context, modifications to the neutrino-nucleon elastic cross section have been identified as potentially key to ensuring that stalled bounce shocks are sufficiently re-energized to produce the desired explosion. An important source of such corrections can be found in a negative value for the nucleon's strange helicity content Δs , which leads to the enhancement and suppression of the ν - p and ν - n total cross sections, respectively. In this talk, however, I summarize the results of a recent analysis which led to a comparatively small magnitude for the strange helicity (Δs >= - 0 . 1) - a fact which renders nucleon strangeness an unlikely candidate for the decisive missing ingredient necessary in simulations for CCSN explosions. Work supported by DOE Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences program under Award No. DE-FG02-97ER-41014, and NSF Grant No. 1205686.

Type Iax supernovae (SNe Iax) are proposed as one new sub-class of SNe Ia since they present sufficiently distinct observational properties from the bulk of SNe Ia. SNe Iax are the most common of all types of peculiar SNe by both number and rate, with an estimated rate of occurrence of about 5-30% of the total SN Ia rate. However, the progenitor systems of SNe Iax are still uncertain. Analyzing pre-explosion images at SN Iax positions provides a direct way to place strong constraints on the nature of progenitor systems of SNe Iax. In this work, we predict pre-explosion properties of binary companion stars in a variety of potential progenitor systems by performing detailed binary evolution calculations with the one-dimensional stellar evolution code STARS. This will be helpful for constraining progenitor systems of SNe Iax from their pre-explosion observations. With our binary evolution calculations, it is found that the non-degenerate helium (He) companion star to both a massive C/O WD (> 1.1 solar mass) and ...

A phase transition to quark matter can lead to interesting phenomenological consequences in core-collapse supernovae, e.g., triggering an explosion in spherically symmetric models. However, until now, this explosion mechanism was only shown to be working for equations of state that are in contradiction with recent pulsar mass measurements. Here, we identify that this explosion mechanism is related to the existence of a third family of compact stars. For the equations of state investigated, the third family is only pronounced in the hot, early stages of the protocompact star and absent or negligibly small at zero temperature and thus represents a novel kind of third family. This interesting behavior is a result of unusual thermal properties induced by the phase transition, e.g., characterized by a decrease of temperature with increasing density for isentropes, and can be related to a negative slope of the phase transition line in the temperature-pressure phase diagram.

The neutrino-nucleus reaction cross sections of 4He and 12C are evaluated using new shell model Hamiltonians. Branching ratios of various decay channels are calculated to evaluate the yields of Li, Be, and B produced through the nu-process in supernovaexplosions. The new cross sections enhance the yields of 7Li and 11B produced during the supernovaexplosion of a 16.2 M_odot star model compared to the case using the conventional cross sections by about 10%. On the other hand, the yield of 10B decreases by a factor of two. The yields of 6Li, 9Be, and the radioactive nucleus 10Be are found at a level of 10^{-11} M_odot. The temperature of nu_{mu,tau}- and bar{nu}_{mu,tau}-neutrinos inferred from the supernova contribution of 11B in Galactic chemical evolution models is constrained to the 4.3 MeV to 6.5 MeV range. The increase in the 7Li and 11B yields due to neutrino oscillations is demonstrated with the new cross sections.

An increasing number of so-called superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are discovered. It is believed that at least some of them with slowly fading light curves originate in stellar explosions induced by the pair instability mechanism. Recent stellar evolution models naturally predict pair instability supernovae (PISNe) from very massive stars at wide range of metallicities (up to Z=0.006, Yusof et al. 2013). In the scope of this study we analyse whether PISN models can match the observational properties of SLSNe with various light curve shapes. Specifically, we explore the influence of different degrees of macroscopic chemical mixing in PISN explosive products on the resulting observational properties. We artificially apply mixing to the 250 Msun PISN evolutionary model from Kozyreva et al. (2014) and explore its supernova evolution with the one-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics code STELLA. The greatest success in matching SLSN observations is achieved in the case of an extreme macroscopic mixing, where all r...

Three lines of evidence indicate that in the most common type of core collapse supernovae, the energy deposited in the ejecta by the exploding core is approximately proportional to the progenitor mass cubed. This results stems from an observed uniformity of light curve plateau duration, a correlation between mass and ejecta velocity, and the known correlation between luminosity and velocity. This result ties in analytical and numerical models together with observations, providing us with clue...

In the version of the single-degenerate scenario of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) studied here, a carbon-oxygen white dwarf explodes close to the Chandrasekhar limit after accreting material from a non-degenerate helium (He) companion star. In the present study, we employ the STELLAR GADGET code to perform three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of the interaction of the SN Ia ejecta with the He companion star taking into account its orbital motion and spin. It is found that only 2%-5% of the initial companion mass is stripped off from the outer layers of He companion stars due to the supernova (SN) impact. The dependence of the unbound mass (or the kick velocity) on the orbital separation can be fitted to a good approximation by a power law for a given companion model. After the SN impact, the outer layers of a He donor star are significantly enriched with heavy elements from the low-expansion-velocity tail of SN Ia ejecta. The total mass of accumulated SN-ejecta material on the companion surface reaches about {approx}> 10{sup -3} M{sub Sun} for different companion models. This enrichment with heavy elements provides a potential way to observationally identify the surviving companion star in SN remnants. Finally, by artificially adjusting the explosion energy of the W7 explosionmodel, we find that the total accumulation of SN ejecta on the companion surface is also dependent on the explosion energy with a power-law relation to a good approximation.

Massive stars live fast and die young. They shine furiously for a few million years, during which time they synthesize most of the heavy elements in the universe in their cores. They end by blowing themselves up in a powerful explosion known as a supernova. During this process, the core collapses to a neutron star or a black hole, while the outer layers are expelled with velocities of thousands of kilometers per second. The resulting fireworks often outshine the entire host galaxy for many weeks. The explosion energy is eventually radiated away, but powering of the newborn nebula continues by radioactive isotopes synthesized in the explosion. The ejecta are now quite transparent, and we can see the material produced in the deep interiors of the star. To interpret the observations, detailed spectral modeling is needed. This thesis aims to develop and apply state-of-the-art computational tools for interpreting and modelingsupernova observations in the nebular phase. This requires calculation of the physical co...

A detection of a core-collapse supernova (CCSN) gravitational-wave (GW) signal with an Advanced LIGO and Virgo detector network may allow us to measure astrophysical parameters of the dying massive star. GWs are emitted from deep inside the core and, as such, they are direct probes of the CCSN explosion mechanism. In this study we show how we can determine the CCSN explosion mechanism from a GW supernova detection using a combination of principal component analysis and Bayesian model selection. We use simulations of GW signals from CCSN exploding via neutrino-driven convection and rapidly-rotating core collapse. Previous studies have shown that the explosion mechanism can be determined using one LIGO detector and simulated Gaussian noise. As real GW detector noise is both non-stationary and non-Gaussian we use real detector noise from a network of detectors with a sensitivity altered to match the advanced detectors design sensitivity. For the first time we carry out a careful selection of the number of princi...

Small underground nuclear explosions need to be confidently detected, identified, and characterized in regions of the world where they have never before occurred. We develop a parametric model of the nuclear explosion seismic source spectrum derived from regional phases that is compatible with earthquake-based geometrical spreading and attenuation. Earthquake spectra are fit with a generalized version of the Brune spectrum, which is a three-parameter model that describes the long-period level, corner-frequency, and spectral slope at high-frequencies. Explosion spectra can be fit with similar spectral models whose parameters are then correlated with near-source geology and containment conditions. We observe a correlation of high gas-porosity (low-strength) with increased spectral slope. The relationship between the parametric equations and the geologic and containment conditions will assist in our physical understanding of the nuclear explosion source.

In recent years, with the development of simulations about supernovaexplosion, we have a better understanding about the density profiles and the shock waves in supernovae than before. There might be a reverse shock wave, another sudden change of density except the forward shock wave, or even no shock wave, emerging in the supernova. Instead of using the expression of the crossing probability at the high resonance, PH, we have studied the matter effects on neutrino oscillations in different supernovamodels. In detail, we have calculated the survival probability of ve (Ps) and the conversion probability of vx (Pc) in the Schrödinger equation within a simplified two-flavor framework for a certain case, in which the neutrino transfers through the supernova matter from an initial flavor eigenstate located at the core of the supernova. Our calculations was based on the data of density in three different supernovamodels obtained from simulations. In our work, we do not steepen the density gradient around the border of the shock wave, which differs to what was done in most of the other simulations. It is found that the mass and the density distribution of the supernova do make a difference on the behavior of Ps and Pc. With the results of Ps and Pc, we can estimate the number of ve (and vx) remained in the beam after they go through the matter in the supernova. Supported by National Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11175020 and 11275025

We present a new set of presupernova evolutions and explosive yields of massive stars of initial solar composition (Y=0.285, Z=0.02) in the mass range 13-35 Msun. All the models have been computed with the latest version (4.97) of the FRANEC code that now includes a nuclear network extending from neutrons to Mo98. The explosive nucleosynthesis has been computed twice: a first one with an hydro code and a second one following the simpler radiation dominated shock approximation (RDA).

We report on a method, PUSH, for triggering core-collapse supernova (CCSN) explosions of massive stars in spherical symmetry. This method provides a framework to study many important aspects of core collapse supernovae: the effects of the shock passage through the star, explosivesupernova nucleosynthesis and the progenitor-remnant connection. Here we give an overview of the method, compare the results to multi-dimensional simulations and investigate the effects of the progenitor and the equation of state on black hole formation.

I raise the possibility that the pre-explosion outburst (PEO) of the type IIn supernova 2010mc (PTF 10tel) was energized by mass accretion onto an O main-sequence stellar companion. According to this suggestion the SN progenitor suffered a rapid expansion within months before explosion. The expansion was driven by leakage of energy from the core where vigorous oxygen nuclear burning takes place within a year prior to explosion. This expansion triggered mass transfer onto the secondary star. Most of the extra energy of the outburst comes from the accretion of ~0.1Mo onto the secondary star. As well, the gas outflowing at v~2000 km/s was launched from the accreting secondary star, most likely in a bipolar outflow. The binary model can account for the slower circumstellar medium that was ejected at earlier times, and explain the red-shifted peak of the Halpha emission at 5.8 days past explosion. I compare some properties of the PEO of SN 2010mc to those of other stellar eruptions, such as the stellar merger even...

The core-collapse supernova (CCSN) explosion mechanism is not well understood. For garden variety CCSNe, the favored explosion scenario is delayed revival of the stalled shock powered by neutrino-driven convection. Despite huge computational advances, many simulations must use parameterized `light-bulb' models for neutrino heating or mask out inner regions of the proto-neutron star (PNS) for computational efficiency. These approximations can fail to capture hydrodynamical processes in the PNS core where nearly all the binding energy resides, and from which much of the explosion energy may originate. We show that gravity waves excited by core PNS convection may represent a significant heating source for the post-shock region. Using 1D simulations, we calculate the wave heating rate in the post-shock region out to one second after core bounce, showing that wave heating rates in excess of 1051 erg/s may persist for several hundreds of milliseconds, even after neutrino heating rates have decreased. Waves excited by PNS convection may therefore significantly contribute to shock revival and, subsequently, a successful and energetic explosion. We discuss how simulations can miss the effect of waves, and how future simulations can more accurately quantify wave heating rates.

We present the SuperNovaExplosion Code SNEC, an open-source Lagrangian code for the hydrodynamics and equilibrium-diffusion radiation transport in the expanding envelopes of supernovae. Given a model of a progenitor star, an explosion energy, and an amount and distribution of radioactive nickel, SNEC generates the bolometric light curve, as well as the light curves in different wavelength bands assuming black body emission. As a first application of SNEC, we consider the explosions of a grid of 15 Msun (at zero-age main sequence) stars whose hydrogen envelopes are stripped to different extents and at different points in their evolution. The resulting light curves exhibit plateaus with durations of ~20-100 days if >~1.5-2 Msun of hydrogen-rich material is left and no plateau if less hydrogen-rich material is left. The shorter plateau lengths are unlike the Type IIP supernova light curves typically observed in nature. This suggests that, at least for zero-age main sequence masses

We have been working within the fundamental paradigm that core collapse supernovae (CCSNe) may be neutrino driven, since the first suggestion of this by Colgate and White nearly five decades ago. Computational models have become increasingly sophisticated, first in one spatial dimension assuming spherical symmetry, then in two spatial dimensions assuming axisymmetry, and now in three spatial dimensions with no imposed symmetries. The increase in the number of spatial dimensions has been accompanied by an increase in the physics included in the models, and an increase in the sophistication with which this physics has been modeled. Computation has played an essential role in the development of CCSN theory, not simply for the obvious reason that such multidimensional, multi-physics, nonlinear events cannot possibly be fully captured analytically, but for its role in discovery. In particular, the discovery of the standing accretion shock instability (SASI) through computation about a decade ago has impacted all s...

A survey of Type II supernovaeexplosionmodels has been carried out to determine how their light curves and spectra vary with their mass, metallicity, and explosion energy. The presupernova models are taken from a recent survey of massive stellar evolution at solar metallicity supplemented by new calculations at subsolar metallicity. Explosions are simulated by the motion of a piston near the edge of the iron core and the resulting light curves and spectra are calculated using full multi-wavelength radiation transport. Formulae are developed that describe approximately how the model observables (light curve luminosity and duration) scale with the progenitor mass, explosion energy, and radioactive nucleosynthesis. Comparison with observational data shows that the explosion energy of typical supernovae (as measured by kinetic energy at infinity) varies by nearly an order of magnitude—from 0.5 to 4.0 × 1051 ergs, with a typical value of ~0.9 × 1051 ergs. Despite the large variation, the models exhibit a tight relationship between luminosity and expansion velocity, similar to that previously employed empirically to make SNe IIP standardized candles. This relation is explained by the simple behavior of hydrogen recombination in the supernova envelope, but we find a sensitivity to progenitor metallicity and mass that could lead to systematic errors. Additional correlations between light curve luminosity, duration, and color might enable the use of SNe IIP to obtain distances accurate to ~20% using only photometric data.

Stars with initial masses 10 M_{solar} 140 M_{solar}), if such exist, have oxygen cores which exceed M_{core} = 50 M_{solar}. There, high temperatures are reached at relatively low densities. Conversion of energetic, pressure-supporting photons into electron-positron pairs occurs prior to oxygen ignition, and leads to a violent contraction that triggers a catastrophic nuclear explosion. Tremendous energies (>~ 10^{52} erg) are released, completely unbinding the star in a pair-instability SN (PISN), with no compact remnant. Transitional objects with 100 M_{solar} 3 M_{solar} of ra dioactive 56Ni were synthesized, and that our observations are well fit by PISN models. A PISN explosion in the local Universe indicates that nearby dwarf galaxies probably host extremely massive stars, above the apparent Galactic limit, perhaps resulting from star formation processes similar to those that created the first stars in the Universe.

are spectroscopically similar to SNe Ia, but have lower maximum-light velocities (2000 M_V,peak > -18.9 mag), and most have hot photospheres. Relative to SNe Ia, SNe Iax have low luminosities for their light-curve shape. There is a correlation between...... luminosity and light-curve shape, similar to that of SNe Ia, but offset from that of SNe Ia and with larger scatter. Despite a host-galaxy morphology distribution that is highly skewed to late-type galaxies without any SNe Iax discovered in elliptical galaxies, there are several indications...... in their spectra. The progenitor system and explosionmodel that best fits all of the data is a binary system of a C/O WD that accretes matter from a He star and has a significant deflagration. At least some of the time, this explosion will not disrupt the WD. We estimate that in a given volume there are 31^+17...

Motivated by recent results in stellar evolution that predict the existence of hybrid white dwarf (WD) stars with a C-O core inside an O-Ne shell, we simulate thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernovae from these hybrid progenitors. We use the FLASH code to perform multidimensional simulations in the deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) explosion paradigm. Our hybrid progenitor models were produced with the MESA stellar evolution code and include the effects of the Urca process, and we map the progenitor model to the FLASH grid. We performed a suite of DDT simulations over a range of ignition conditions consistent with the progenitor's thermal and convective structure assuming multiple ignition points. To compare the results from these hybrid WD stars to previous results from C-O white dwarfs, we construct a set of C-O WD models with similar properties and similarly simulate a suite of explosions. We find that despite significant variability within each suite, trends distinguishing the explosions are apparent ...

The evolutionary path of rotating CO WDs directly accreting CO-rich matter is followed up to few seconds before the explosive breakout in the framework of the Double Degenerate rotationally-driven accretion scenario. We find that the evolutionary properties depend only on the actual mass of the accreting WD and not on the previous history. We determine the expected frequency and amplitude of the gravitational wave emission, which occurs during the mass transfer process and acts as a self-tuning mechanism of the accretion process itself. The gravitational signal related to Galactic sources can be easily detected with the next generation of space-born interferometers and can provide notable constraints to the progenitor model. The expected statistical distribution of pre-explosive objects in the Galaxy is provided also in the effective temperature-apparent bolometric magnitude diagrams which can be used to identify merged DD systems via UV surveys. We emphasize that the thermonuclear explosion occurs owing to t...

In this paper, we discuss the current status of core collapse supernovamodels and the future developments needed to achieve significant advances in understanding the supernova mechanism and supernova phenomenology, i.e., in developing a supernova standard model.

Core-collapse supernovae (CC-SNe) explosions represent the final demise of massive stars. Among the various types, there is a group of relatively infrequent CC-SNe termed type IIb, which appear to be hybrids between normal type II SNe (those characterised by H emission) and type Ib (those that lack H features in their spectra but exhibit prominent HeI lines). The nature of the stellar progenitors leading to type IIb SNe is currently unknown, although two channels are contemplated: single massive stars that have lost part of their outer envelope as a consequence of stellar winds, and massive stars that shed mass by Roche-Lobe overflow to a companion. The latter is in fact the favoured scenario for most of the objects observed up to now. In the majority of cases, when there are no direct progenitor detections, some hints about type IIb SN progenitors (e.g., initial mass) can be derived indirectly from the objects' light curves (LCs) and spectra. Motivated by the relatively few well-sampled observational datasets that exist up to date for type IIb SNe and the unknowns on their progenitors, we carried out extensive observations (mainly in the optical domain) for the young type IIb SNe 2011fu and 2013df. Both these SNe are particularly interesting because they show a first LC peak caused by shock breakout, followed by a secondary 56Ni-decay-powered maximum. The analysis of the data for SNe 2011fu and 2013df points to precursors that seem to have been stars with large radii (of the order of 100 RSun), with low mass hydrogen envelopes (tenths of MSun), and relatively low initial masses (12-18 MSun), which could have formed part of interacting binary systems. The nature of a third SN IIb candidate, OGLE-2013-SN-100, proved to be enigmatic. OGLE-2013-SN-100, shows a first peak in the LC, and other characteristics somewhat similar to those of type IIb SNe. However, after a deeper analysis, we conclude OGLE-2013-SN-100 is likely not a SN of type IIb. We provide an alternative

This image shows a computer simulation of the hydrodynamics within a supernova remnant. The mixing between the outer layers (where color represents the log of density) is caused by turbulence from the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, an effect that arises when the expanding core gas of the supernova is accelerated into denser shell gas. The past standard for supernova-evolution simulations was to perform them in one dimension and then, in post-processing, manually smooth out regions that undergo Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence (an intrinsically multidimensional effect). But in a recent study, Paul Duffell (University of California, Berkeley) has explored how a 1D model could be used to reproduce the multidimensional dynamics that occur in turbulence from this instability. For more information, check out the paper below!CitationPaul C. Duffell 2016 ApJ 821 76. doi:10.3847/0004-637X/821/2/76

How do massive stars explode? Progress toward the answer is driven by increases in compute power. Petascale supercomputers are enabling detailed three-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae. These are elucidating the role of fluid instabilities, turbulence, and magnetic field amplification in supernova engines.

We present a theoretical model for Type Ib supernova (SN) 2006jc associated with a luminous blue variable (LBV)-like event. We calculate the presupernova evolution of the progenitor star, hydrodynamics and nucleosynthesis of the SN explosion, and the SN bolometric light curve (LC). The observed bolometic LC is constructed by integrating the UV, optical, near-infrared (NIR), and mid-infrared (MIR) fluxes. The progenitor is assumed to be as massive as $40\\Msun$ on the zero-age. The star undergoes extensive mass loss to reduce its mass down to as small as $6.9\\Msun$, thus becoming a WC Wolf-Rayet star at the presupernova stage. The WC star model has a thick carbon-rich layer, in which amorphous carbon grains can be formed during the explosion. This could explain the brightening in the NIR flux and the observed dust feature in MIR. The typical main-sequence mass of a WC Wolf-Rayet star and thus the progenitor of SN 2006jc is more massive than $40\\Msun$. We suggest that the explosions of stars more massive than $4...

Core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) are the highly energetic deaths of massive stars. They play a vital role in the synthesis and dissemination of many chemical elements. CCSN nucleosynthesis calculations have previously relied on artificial explosion methods that do not adequately capture the physics of the innermost stellar layers. Multidimensional simulations currently being performed to fully unravel the explosion mechanism of CCSNe are very computationally expensive. The PUSH method, calibrated against SN1987A, provides parametrized spherically symmetric models that follow the consistent evolution of the proto-neutron star as well as the electron fraction of the ejecta. This method is computationally affordable and captures the physics relevant for nucleosynthesis calculations. Here, we present the results of a broad study that investigates the explodability and nucleosynthesis yields of progenitors covering a wide range of ZAMS masses. Comparisons of the predicted explosion properties and yields with observational CCSNe and metal-poor star data will also be presented. The complete set of nucleosynthesis yields will be a valuable input to models of galactic chemical evolution. United States Department of Energy (DOE Grant No. SC0010263).

We present an initial report on 160 simulations of a highly simplified model of the post-bounce supernova environment in three spatial dimensions (3D). We set different values of a parameter characterizing the impact of nuclear dissociation at the stalled shock in order to regulate the post-shock fluid velocity, thereby determining the relative importance of convection and the stationary accretion shock instability (SASI). While our convection-dominated runs comport with the paradigmatic notion of a `critical neutrino luminosity' for explosion at a given mass accretion rate (albeit with a nontrivial spread in explosion times just above threshold), the outcomes of our SASI-dominated runs are much more stochastic: a sharp threshold critical luminosity is `smeared out' into a rising probability of explosion over a $\\sim 20\\%$ range of luminosity. We also find that the SASI-dominated models are able to explode with 3 to 4 times less efficient neutrino heating, indicating that progenitor properties, and fluid and ...

The core-collapse supernova (CCSN) explosion mechanism is not well understood. For garden variety CCSNe, the favored scenario for explosion is delayed revival of the stalled shock powered by neutrino-driven convection. Despite tremendous computational advances, many simulations must use parameterized ‘light-bulb’ models for neutrino heating or mask out inner regions of the proto-neutron star (PNS) for computational efficiency. These approximations can fail to capture hydrodynamical processes in the core of the PNS where nearly all the binding energy resides, and from which much of the explosion energy may originate. We show that gravity (buoyancy) waves excited by core PNS convection (within the central 20 km of the PNS) may represent a significant heating source for the post-shock region. The gravity waves propagate out of the PNS and transform into acoustic waves before depositing their energy at the shock, converting a small fraction of the PNS binding energy into explosion energy. Using 1D simulations, we calculate the wave heating rate in the post-shock region out to one second after core bounce, showing that wave heating rates in excess of 1051 erg/s may persist for several hundreds of milliseconds, even after neutrino heating rates have declined to smaller values. Waves excited by PNS convection may therefore significantly contribute to shock revival and, subsequently, a successful and energetic explosion. We discuss how simulations can miss the effect of waves (or have not recognized them), and how future simulations can more accurately quantify wave heating rates.

An all-sky monitor with nuclear imaging spectroscopy is a promising tool for the systematic study of supernovaexplosions. In particular, progenitor scenarios of type-Ia supernovae, which are not yet well understood, can be resolved using light curves in the nuclear gamma-ray band. Here we report an expected result of an all-sky monitor with imaging spectroscopy using electron-tracking Compton camera, which will enable us to observe nuclear gamma-ray lines from type-Ia supernovae.

We study explosion characteristics of ultra-stripped supernovae (SNe), which are candidates of SNe generating binary neutron stars (NSs). As a first step, we perform stellar evolutionary simulations of bare carbon-oxygen cores of mass from 1.45 to 2.0 $M_\\odot$ until the iron cores become unstable and start collapsing. We then perform axisymmetric hydrodynamics simulations with spectral neutrino transport using these stellar evolution outcomes as initial conditions. All models exhibit successful explosions driven by neutrino heating. The diagnostic explosion energy, ejecta mass, Ni mass, and NS mass are typically $\\sim 10^{50}$ erg, $\\sim 0.1 M_\\odot$, $\\sim 0.01M_\\odot$, and $\\approx 1.3 M_\\odot$, which are compatible with observations of rapidly-evolving and luminous transient such as SN 2005ek. We also find that the ultra-stripped SN is a candidate for producing the secondary low-mass NS in the observed compact binary NSs like PSR J0737-3039.

Asymmetric mass ejection in the early phase of supernova (SN) explosions can impart a kick velocity to the new-born neutron star (NS). For neutrino-driven explosions the NS acceleration has been shown to be mainly caused by the gravitational attraction of the anisotropically expelled inner ejecta, while hydrodynamic forces contribute on a subdominant level, and asymmetric neutrino emission plays only a secondary role. Two- and three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations have demonstrated that this gravitational tug-boat mechanism can explain the observed space velocities of young NSs up to more than 1000 km s‑1. Here, we discuss how the NS kick depends on the energy, ejecta mass, and asymmetry of the SN explosion, and what role the compactness of the pre-collapse stellar core plays for the momentum transfer to the NS. We also provide simple analytic expressions for the NS velocity in terms of these quantities. Referring to results of hydrodynamic simulations in the literature, we argue why, within the discussed scenario of NS acceleration, electron-capture SNe, low-mass Fe-core SNe, and ultra-stripped SNe can be expected to have considerably lower intrinsic NS kicks than core-collapse SNe of massive stellar cores. Our basic arguments also remain valid if progenitor stars possess large-scale asymmetries in their convective silicon and oxygen burning layers. Possible scenarios for spin-kick alignment are sketched. Much of our discussion stays on a conceptual and qualitative level, and more work is necessary on the numerical modeling side to determine the dependences of involved parameters, whose prescriptions will be needed for recipes that can be used to better describe NS kicks in binary evolution and population synthesis studies.

We review some of the uncertainties in calculating nucleosynthetic yields, focusing on the explosion mechanism. Current yield calculations tend to either use a piston, energy injection, or enhancement of neutrino opacities to drive an explosion. We show that the energy injection, or more accurately, an entropy injection mechanism is best-suited to mimic our current understanding of the convection-enhanced supernova engine. The enhanced neutrino-opacity technique is in qualitative disagreement with simulations of core-collapse supernovae and will likely produce errors in the yields. But piston-driven explosions are the most discrepant. Piston-driven explosion severely underestimate the amount of fallback, leading to order-of-magnitude errors in the yields of heavy elements. To obtain yields accurate to the factor of a few level, we must use entropy or energy injection and this has become the NuGrid collaboration approach.

We present results from an ab initio three-dimensional, multi-physics core collapse supernova simulation for the case of a 15 M progenitor. Our simulation includes multi-frequency neutrino transport with state-of-the-art neutrino interactions in the "ray-by-ray" approximation, and approximate general relativity. Our model exhibits a neutrino-driven explosion. The shock radius begins an outward trajectory at approximately 275 ms after bounce, giving the first indication of a developing explosion in the model. The onset of this shock expansion is delayed relative to our two-dimensional counterpart model, which begins at approximately 200 ms after core bounce. At a time of 441 ms after bounce, the angle-averaged shock radius in our three-dimensional model has reached 751 km. Further quantitative analysis of the outcomes in this model must await further development of the post-bounce dynamics and a simulation that will extend well beyond 1 s after stellar core bounce, based on the results for the same progenitor ...

We present a set of 11 type Ia supernova (SN Ia) lightcurves with dense, pre-maximum sampling. These supernovae (SNe), in galaxies behind the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), were discovered by the SuperMACHO survey. The SNe span a redshift range of z = 0.11-0.35. Our lightcurves contain some of the earliest pre-maximum observations of SNe Ia to date. We also give a functional model that describes the SN Ia lightcurve shape (in our V R-band). Our function uses the ''expanding fireball'' model of Goldhaber et al. (1998) to describe the rising lightcurve immediately after explosion but constrains it to smoothly join the remainder of the lightcurve. We fit this model to a composite observed V R-band lightcurve of three SNe between redshifts of 0.135 to 0.165. These SNe have not been K-corrected or adjusted to account for reddening. In this redshift range, the observed V R-band most closely matches the rest frame V-band. Using the best fit to our functional description of the lightcurve, we find the time between explosion and observed V R-band maximum to be 19.2 {+-} 1.3-1.6 {+-} 0.07(red.) rest-frame days for a SN Ia with a V R-band {Delta}m{sub -10} of 0.52. For the redshifts sampled, the observed V R-band time-of-maximum brightness should be the same as the rest-frame V -band maximum to within 1.1 rest-frame days.

We present self-consistent, axisymmetric core-collapse supernova simulations performed with the Prometheus-Vertex code for 18 pre-supernovamodels in the range of 11-28 solar masses, including progenitors recently investigated by other groups. All models develop explosions, but depending on the progenitor structure, they can be divided into two classes. With a steep density decline at the Si/Si-O interface, the arrival of this interface at the shock front leads to a sudden drop of the mass-accretion rate, triggering a rapid approach to explosion. With a more gradually decreasing accretion rate, it takes longer for the neutrino heating to overcome the accretion ram pressure and explosions set in later. Early explosions are facilitated by high mass-accretion rates after bounce and correspondingly high neutrino luminosities combined with a pronounced drop of the accretion rate and ram pressure at the Si/Si-O interface. Because of rapidly shrinking neutron star radii and receding shock fronts after the passage th...

Integral field spectroscopy of nearby supernova sites within ~30 Mpc have been obtained using multiple IFU spectrographs in Hawaii and Chile. This technique enables both spatial and spectral information of the explosion sites to be acquired simultaneously, thus providing the identification of the parent stellar population of the supernova progenitor and the estimates for its physical parameters including age and metallicity via the spectrum. While this work has mainly been done in the optical wavelengths using instruments such as VIMOS, GMOS, and MUSE, a near-infrared approach has also been carried out using the AO-assisted SINFONI. By studying the supernova parent stellar population, we aim to characterize the mass and metallicity of the progenitors of different types of supernovae.

We perform hydrodynamic supernova simulations in spherical symmetry for over 100 single stars of solar metallicity to explore the progenitor-explosion and progenitor-remnant connections established by the neutrino-driven mechanism. We use an approximative treatment of neutrino transport and replace the high-density interior of the neutron star (NS) by an inner boundary condition based on an analytic proto-NS core-cooling model, whose free parameters are chosen such that explosion energy, nickel production, and energy release by the compact remnant of progenitors around 20 solar masses are compatible with Supernova 1987A. Thus we are able to simulate the accretion phase, initiation of the explosion, subsequent neutrino-driven wind phase for 15-20 s, and the further evolution of the blast wave for hours to days until fallback is completed. Our results challenge long-standing paradigms. We find that remnant mass, launch time, and properties of the explosion depend strongly on the stellar structure and exhibit la...

Recent theoretical progress in understanding the origin and nature of Type I and Type II supernovae is discussed. New Type II presupernova models characterized by a variety of iron core masses at the time of collapse are presented and the sensitivity to the reaction rate /sup 12/C(..cap alpha..,..gamma..)/sup 16/O explained. Stars heavier than about 20 M/sub solar/ must explode by a ''delayed'' mechanism not directly related to the hydrodynamical core bounce and a subset is likely to leave black hole remnants. The isotopic nucleosynthesis expected from these massive stellar explosions is in striking agreement with the sun. Type I supernovae result when an accreting white dwarf undergoes a thermonuclear explosion. The critical role of the velocity of the deflagration front in determining the light curve, spectrum, and, especially, isotopic nucleosynthesis in these models is explored. 76 refs., 8 figs.

Blast-wave-driven instabilities play a rich and varied role throughout the evolution of supernovae from explosion to remnant, but interpreting their role is difficult due to the enormous complexity of the stellar systems. We consider the simpler and fundamental hydrodynamic instability problem of a material interface between two constant-density fluids perturbed from spherical and driven by a divergent central Taylor-Sedov blast wave. The existence of unified solutions at high Mach number and small density ratio suggests that general conclusions can be drawn about the likely asymptotic structure of the mixing zone. To this end we apply buoyancy-drag and bubble merger models modified to include the effects of divergence and radial velocity gradients. In general, these effects preclude the true self-similar evolution of classical Raleigh-Taylor, but can be incorporated into a quasi-self-similar growth picture. Loss of memory of initial conditions can occur in the quasi-self-similar model, but requires initial mode numbers higher than those predicted for pre-explosion interfaces in Type II SNe, suggesting that their late-time structure is likely strongly influenced by details of the initial perturbations. Where low-modes are dominant, as in the Type Ia Tycho remnant, they result from initial perturbations rather than generation from smaller scales. Therefore, structure observed now contains direct information about the explosion process. When large-amplitude modes are present in the initial conditions, the contribution to the perturbation growth from the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability is significant or dominant compared to Rayleigh-Taylor. Such Richtmyer-Meshkov growth can yield proximity of the forward shock to the growing spikes and structure that strongly resembles that observed in the Tycho. Laser-driven high-energy-density laboratory experiments offer a promising avenue for testing model and simulation descriptions of blast-wave-driven instabilities and making

Core collapse supernovae (SNe) are widely known to be among the universe's primary neutrino factories, releasing ˜99% of their energy, or ˜1053 ergs, in the form of the tiny leptons. On the other hand, less than 4% of the energy of Type Ia SNe is released via neutrinos, hence making Ia SNe impossible to detect (through neutrino observations) at typical supernova distances. For this reason, neutrino signatures from these explosions have very rarely been modeled. We ran time-sliced fluences from non-oscillation pure deflagration and delayed detonation (DDT) Ia models by Odrzywolek and Plewa (2011) through SNOwGLoBES, a software that calculates event rates and other observed quantities of supernova neutrinos in various detectors. We determined Ia neutrino event rates in Hyper-K, a proposed water Cherenkov detector, JUNO, a scintillator detector under construction, and DUNE, a proposed argon detector, and identified criteria to distinguish between the two models (pure deflagration and DDT) based on data from a real supernova (statistically represented by a Poisson distribution around the expected result). We found that up to distances of 8.00, 1.54, and 2.37 kpc (subject to change based on oscillation effects and modified detector efficiencies), we can discern the explosion mechanism with ≥90% confidence in Hyper-K, JUNO, and DUNE, respectively, thus learning more about Ia progenitors.

We present self-consistent, axisymmetric core-collapse supernova simulations performed with the Prometheus-Vertex code for 18 pre-supernovamodels in the range of 11-28 M ⊙, including progenitors recently investigated by other groups. All models develop explosions, but depending on the progenitor structure, they can be divided into two classes. With a steep density decline at the Si/Si-O interface, the arrival of this interface at the shock front leads to a sudden drop of the mass-accretion rate, triggering a rapid approach to explosion. With a more gradually decreasing accretion rate, it takes longer for the neutrino heating to overcome the accretion ram pressure and explosions set in later. Early explosions are facilitated by high mass-accretion rates after bounce and correspondingly high neutrino luminosities combined with a pronounced drop of the accretion rate and ram pressure at the Si/Si-O interface. Because of rapidly shrinking neutron star radii and receding shock fronts after the passage through their maxima, our models exhibit short advection timescales, which favor the efficient growth of the standing accretion-shock instability. The latter plays a supportive role at least for the initiation of the re-expansion of the stalled shock before runaway. Taking into account the effects of turbulent pressure in the gain layer, we derive a generalized condition for the critical neutrino luminosity that captures the explosion behavior of all models very well. We validate the robustness of our findings by testing the influence of stochasticity, numerical resolution, and approximations in some aspects of the microphysics.

Although we know that many supernovae are aspherical, the exact nature of their geometry is undetermined. Because all the supernovae we observe are too distant to be resolved, the ejecta structure can't be directly imaged, and asymmetry must be inferred from signatures in the spectral features and polarization of the supernova light. The empirical interpretation of this data, however, is rather limited--to learn more about the detailed supernova geometry, theoretical modeling must been undertaken. One expects the geometry to be closely tied to the explosion mechanism and the progenitor star system, both of which are still under debate. Studying the 3-dimensional structure of supernovae should therefore provide new break throughs in our understanding. The goal of this thesis is to advance new techniques for calculating radiative transfer in 3-dimensional expanding atmospheres, and use them to study the flux and polarization signatures of aspherical supernovae. We develop a 3-D Monte Carlo transfer code and use it to directly fit recent spectropolarimetric observations, as well as calculate the observable properties of detailed multi-dimensional hydrodynamical explosion simulations. While previous theoretical efforts have been restricted to ellipsoidal models, we study several more complicated configurations that are tied to specific physical scenarios. We explore clumpy and toroidal geometries in fitting the spectropolarimetry of the Type Ia supernova SN 2001el. We then calculate the observable consequences of a supernova that has been rendered asymmetric by crashing into a nearby companion star. Finally, we fit the spectrum of a peculiar and extraordinarily luminous Type Ic supernova. The results are brought to bear on three broader astrophysical questions: (1) What are the progenitors and the explosion processes of Type Ia supernovae? (2) What effect does asymmetry have on the observational diversity of Type Ia supernovae, and hence their use in cosmology? (3

Although we know that many supernovae are aspherical, the exact nature of their geometry is undetermined. Because all the supernovae we observe are too distant to be resolved, the ejecta structure can't be directly imaged, and asymmetry must be inferred from signatures in the spectral features and polarization of the supernova light. The empirical interpretation of this data, however, is rather limited--to learn more about the detailed supernova geometry, theoretical modeling must been undertaken. One expects the geometry to be closely tied to the explosion mechanism and the progenitor star system, both of which are still under debate. Studying the 3-dimensional structure of supernovae should therefore provide new break throughs in our understanding. The goal of this thesis is to advance new techniques for calculating radiative transfer in 3-dimensional expanding atmospheres, and use them to study the flux and polarization signatures of aspherical supernovae. We develop a 3-D Monte Carlo transfer code and use it to directly fit recent spectropolarimetric observations, as well as calculate the observable properties of detailed multi-dimensional hydrodynamical explosion simulations. While previous theoretical efforts have been restricted to ellipsoidal models, we study several more complicated configurations that are tied to specific physical scenarios. We explore clumpy and toroidal geometries in fitting the spectropolarimetry of the Type Ia supernova SN 2001el. We then calculate the observable consequences of a supernova that has been rendered asymmetric by crashing into a nearby companion star. Finally, we fit the spectrum of a peculiar and extraordinarily luminous Type Ic supernova. The results are brought to bear on three broader astrophysical questions: (1) What are the progenitors and the explosion processes of Type Ia supernovae? (2) What effect does asymmetry have on the observational diversity of Type Ia supernovae, and hence their use in cosmology? (3

What happens at the end of the life of massive stars? At one time we thought all these stars followed similar evolutionary paths. However, new discoveries have shown that things are not quite that simple. This book focuses on the extreme -the most intense, brilliant and peculiar- of astronomical explosions. It features highly significant observational finds that push the frontiers of astronomy and astrophysics, particularly as before these objects were only predicted in theory. This book is for those who want the latest information and ideas about the most dramatic and unusual explosions dete

Type Ia Supernovae provided the first strong evidence of dark energy and are still an important tool for measuring the accelerated expansion of the universe. However, future improvements will be limited by systematic uncertainties in our use of Type Ia supernovae as standard candles. Using Type Ia supernovae for cosmology relies on our ability to standardize their absolute magnitudes, but this relies on imperfect models of supernova spectra time series. This thesis is focused on using data from the Nearby Supernova Factory both to understand current sources of uncertainty in standardizing Type Ia supernovae and to develop techniques that can be used to limit uncertainty in future analyses. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Full Text Available We investigate the r-process nucleosynthesis during the magnetohydrodynamical (MHD explosion of a supernova in a helium star of 3.3 M⊙, where effects of neutrinos are taken into account using the leakage scheme in the two-dimensional (2D hydrodynamic code. Jet-like explosion due to the combined effects of differential rotation and magnetic field is able to erode the lower electron fraction matter from the inner layers. We find that the ejected material of low electron fraction responsible for the r-process comes out from just outside the neutrino sphere deep inside the Fe-core. It is found that heavy element nucleosynthesis depends on the initial conditions of rotational and magnetic fields. In particular, the third peak of the distribution is significantly overproduced relative to the solar system abundances, which would indicate a possible r-process site owing to MHD jets in supernovae.

The recent observation of a {sup 60}Fe peak in a deep-sea ferro-manganese crust has been interpreted as due to a supernovaexplosion relatively close to the solar system 2.8 {+-} 0.4 Myr ago. To confirm this interpretation with better time-resolved measurements, and the simultaneous access, on the same sample, to other isotopes and geochemical phases, marine sediments seem to be a tool of choice. The objective of this work was to search for isotopic anomalies which would be characteristic for residues of this supernova. More specifically, {sup 129}I, {sup 60}Fe, and {sup 26}Al have been investigated, being measured by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS). Quantifying these nuclides' fluxes would help constrain stellar nucleosynthesis models. These residues are isotopes initially produced during hydrostatic and/or explosive nucleosynthesis. The physical conditions during the explosion (temperature, neutron density) are such that supernovae are thought to be good candidates for the astrophysical site of the r-process. The {sup 129}I study showed that measurement of pre-anthropogenic {sup 129}I/{sup 127}I ratios need a very strict control of the various potential {sup 129}I sources, especially when working with small quantities (micrograms) of iodine. This study revealed that the expected pre-anthropogenic {sup 129}I/{sup 127}I ratio for pre-nuclear samples in the marine environment shows a large discrepancy between theoretical calculations and experimental measurements. {sup 60}Fe and {sup 26}Al measurements allow us to conclude that, in the authigenic phase of the marine sediments, there is no {sup 60}Fe anomaly in the time interval defined by the signal found on the Fe-Mn crust (from 2.4 to 3.2 Myr), and no {sup 26}Al anomaly from 2.6 to 3.2 Myr. (author)

We describe observed properties of the Type Iax class of supernovae (SNe Iax), consisting of SNe observationally similar to its prototypical member, SN 2002cx. The class currently has 25 members, and we present optical photometry and/or optical spectroscopy for most of them. SNe Iax are spectrosc......We describe observed properties of the Type Iax class of supernovae (SNe Iax), consisting of SNe observationally similar to its prototypical member, SN 2002cx. The class currently has 25 members, and we present optical photometry and/or optical spectroscopy for most of them. SNe Iax...... are spectroscopically similar to SNe Ia, but have lower maximum-light velocities (2000 M_V,peak > -18.9 mag), and most have hot photospheres. Relative to SNe Ia, SNe Iax have low luminosities for their light-curve shape. There is a correlation between...... luminosity and light-curve shape, similar to that of SNe Ia, but offset from that of SNe Ia and with larger scatter. Despite a host-galaxy morphology distribution that is highly skewed to late-type galaxies without any SNe Iax discovered in elliptical galaxies, there are several indications...

The well-established Type Ia remnant of Tycho's supernova (SN 1572) reveals discrepant ambient medium density estimates based on either the measured dynamics or on the X-ray emission properties. This discrepancy can potentially be solved by assuming that the supernova remnant (SNR) shock initially moved through a stellar wind bubble, but is currently evolving in the uniform interstellar medium with a relatively low density. We investigate this scenario by combining hydrodynamical simulations of the wind-loss phase and the supernova remnant evolution with a coupled X-ray emission model, which includes non-equilibrium ionization. For the explosionmodels we use the well-known W7 deflagration model and the delayed detonation model that was previously shown to provide good fits to the X-ray emission of Tycho's SNR. Our simulations confirm that a uniform ambient density cannot simultaneously reproduce the dynamical and X-ray emission properties of Tycho. In contrast, models that considered that the remnant was evo...

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are thermonuclear explosions of white dwarf stars in close binary systems. They play an important role as cosmological distance indicators and have led to the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the Universe. Among the most important unsolved questions are how the explosion actually proceeds and whether accretion occurs from a companion or via the merging of two white dwarfs. Tycho Brahe's supernova of 1572 (SN 1572) is thought to be one of the best candidates for a SN Ia in the Milky Way. The proximity of the SN 1572 remnant has allowed detailed studies, such as the possible identification of the binary companion, and provides a unique opportunity to test theories of the explosion mechanism and the nature of the progenitor. The determination of the yet unknown exact spectroscopic type of SN 1572 is crucial to relate these results to the diverse population of SNe Ia. Here we report an optical spectrum of Tycho Brahe's supernova near maximum brightness, obtained from a scatter...

Currently the number of models aimed at explaining the phenomena of type Ia supernovae is high and distinguishing between them is a must. In this work we explore the influence of rotation on the evolution of the nuclear flame that drives the explosion in the so-called gravitational confined detonation models. Assuming that the flame starts in a pointlike region slightly above the center of the white dwarf (WD) and adding a moderate amount of angular velocity to the star we follow the evolution of the deflagration using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. We find that the results are very dependent on the angle between the rotational axis and the line connecting the initial bubble of burned material with the center of the WD at the moment of ignition. The impact of rotation is larger for angles close to 90° because the Coriolis force on a floating element of fluid is maximum and its principal effect is to break the symmetry of the deflagration. Such symmetry breaking weakens the convergence of the nuclear flame at the antipodes of the initial ignition volume, changing the environmental conditions around the convergence region with respect to non-rotating models. These changes seem to disfavor the emergence of a detonation in the compressed volume at the antipodes and may compromise the viability of the so-called gravitational confined detonation mechanism.

Currently the number of models aimed at explaining the phenomena of type Ia supernovae is high and distinguishing between them is a must. In this work we explore the influence of rotation on the evolution of the nuclear flame that drives the explosion in the so-called gravitational confined detonation models. Assuming that the flame starts in a pointlike region slightly above the center of the white dwarf (WD) and adding a moderate amount of angular velocity to the star we follow the evolution of the deflagration using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. We find that the results are very dependent on the angle between the rotational axis and the line connecting the initial bubble of burned material with the center of the WD at the moment of ignition. The impact of rotation is larger for angles close to 90° because the Coriolis force on a floating element of fluid is maximum and its principal effect is to break the symmetry of the deflagration. Such symmetry breaking weakens the convergence of the nuclear flame at the antipodes of the initial ignition volume, changing the environmental conditions around the convergence region with respect to non-rotating models. These changes seem to disfavor the emergence of a detonation in the compressed volume at the antipodes and may compromise the viability of the so-called gravitational confined detonation mechanism.

The aim of this project was to design a series of blast-wave driven Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The experiments of this kind are relevant to mixing in core-collapse supernovae (ccSNe) and have the potential to address previously unanswered questions in high-energy density physics (HEDP) and astrophysics. The unmatched laser power of the NIF laser offers a unique chance to observe and study “new physics” like the mass extensions observed in HEDP RT experiments performed on the Omega laser [1], which might be linked to self-generated magnetic fields [2] and so far could not be reproduced by numerical simulations. Moreover, NIF is currently the only facility that offers the possibility to execute a diverging RT experiment, which would allow to observe processes such as inter-shell penetration via turbulent mixing and shock-proximity effects (distortion of the shock by RT spikes).

We investigate explosive nucleosynthesis in a non-rotating 15$M_\\odot$ star with solar metallicity that explodes by a neutrino-heating supernova (SN) mechanism aided by both standing accretion shock instability (SASI) and convection. To trigger explosions in our two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, we approximate the neutrino transport with a simple light-bulb scheme and systematically change the neutrino fluxes emitted from the protoneutron star. By a post-processing calculation, we evaluate abundances and masses of the SN ejecta for nuclei with the mass number $\\le 70$ employing a large nuclear reaction network. Aspherical abundance distributions, which are observed in nearby core-collapse SN remnants, are obtained for the non-rotating spherically-symmetric progenitor, due to the growth of low-mode SASI. Abundance pattern of the supernova ejecta is similar to that of the solar system for models whose masses ranges $(0.4-0.5) \\Ms$ of the ejecta from the inner region ($\\le 10,000\\km$) of the precollapse ...

We address a new set of models for the spectral analysis of the X-ray emission from young, ejecta-dominated Type Ia supernova remnants. These models are based on hydrodynamic simulations of the interaction between Type Ia supernovaexplosionmodels and the surrounding ambient medium, coupled to self-consistent ionization and electron heating calculations in the shocked supernova ejecta, and the generation of synthetic spectra with an appropriate spectral code. The details are provided elsewhere, but in this paper we concentrate on a specific class of Type Ia explosionmodels (delayed detonations), commenting on the differences that arise between their synthetic X-ray spectra under a variety of conditions.

Nowadays the number of models aimed at explaining the Type Ia supernova phenomenon is high and discriminating between them is a must-do. In this work we explore the influence of rotation in the evolution of the nuclear flame which drives the explosion in the so called gravitational confined detonation models. Assuming that the flame starts in a point-like region slightly above the center of the white dwarf (WD) and adding a moderate amount of angular velocity to the star we follow the evolution of the deflagration using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. We find that the results are very dependent on the angle between the rotational axis and the line connecting the initial bubble of burned material with the center of the white dwarf at the moment of the ignition. The impact of rotation is larger for angles close to 90{\\deg} because the Coriolis force on a floating element of fluid is maximum, and its principal effect is to break the symmetry of the deflagration. Such symmetry breaking weakens the converg...

Understanding the properties of Population III (Pop III) stars is prerequisite to elucidating the nature of primeval galaxies, the chemical enrichment and reionization of the early intergalactic medium, and the origin of supermassive black holes. While the primordial initial mass function (IMF) remains unknown, recent evidence from numerical simulations and stellar archaeology suggests that some Pop III stars may have had lower masses than previously thought, 15-50 M{sub Sun} in addition to 50-500 M{sub Sun }. The detection of Pop III supernovae (SNe) by JWST, WFIRST, or the TMT could directly probe the primordial IMF for the first time. We present numerical simulations of 15-40 M{sub Sun} Pop III core-collapse SNe performed with the Los Alamos radiation hydrodynamics code RAGE. We find that they will be visible in the earliest galaxies out to z {approx} 10-15, tracing their star formation rates and in some cases revealing their positions on the sky. Since the central engines of Pop III and solar-metallicity core-collapse SNe are quite similar, future detection of any Type II SNe by next-generation NIR instruments will in general be limited to this epoch.

We describe observed properties of the Type Iax class of supernovae (SNe Iax), consisting of SNe observationally similar to its prototypical member, SN 2002cx. The class currently has 25 members, and we present optical photometry and/or optical spectroscopy for most of them. SNe Iax are spectroscopically similar to SNe Ia, but have lower maximum-light velocities (2000 M_V,peak > -18.9 mag), and most have hot photospheres. Relative to SNe Ia, SNe Iax have low luminosities for their light-curve shape. There is a correlation between luminosity and light-curve shape, similar to that of SNe Ia, but offset from that of SNe Ia and with larger scatter. Despite a host-galaxy morphology distribution that is highly skewed to late-type galaxies without any SNe Iax discovered in elliptical galaxies, there are several indications that the progenitor stars are white dwarfs (WDs): evidence of C/O burning in their maximum-light spectra, low ejecta masses, strong Fe lines in their late-time spectra, a lack of X-ray detections...

Using 3D numerical simulations we study the evolution of the H$\\alpha$ intensity and velocity dispersion for single and multiple supenova (SN) explosions. We find that the $I_{\\rm H\\alpha}-\\sigma$ diagram obtained for simulated gas flows is similar in shape to that observed in dwarf galaxies. We conclude that colliding SN shells with significant difference in age are resposible for high velocity dispersion that reaches values high as $\\simgt 100$kms$^{-1}$. Such a high velocity dispersion could be hardly got for a single SN remnant. Peaks of velocity dispersion on the $I_{\\rm H\\alpha}-\\sigma$ diagram may correspond to several stand-alone or merged SN remnants with moderately different ages. The procedure of the spatial resolution degrading in the H$\\alpha$ intensity and velocity dispersion maps makes the simulated $I_{\\rm H\\alpha}-\\sigma$ diagrams close to those observed in dwarf galaxies not only in shape, but also quantitatively.

Full Text Available Model calculations within the framework of the so-called γ process show an underproduction of the p nucleus with the highest isotopic abundace 92Mo. This discrepancy can be narrowed by taking into account the alternative production site of a type Ia supernovaexplosion. Here, the nucleus 92Mo can be produced by a sequence of proton-capture reactions. The amount of 92Mo nuclei produced via this reaction chain is most sensitive to the reactions 90Zr(p,γ and 91Nb(p,γ. Both rates have to be investigated experimentally to study the impact of this nucleosynthesis aspect on the long-standing 92Mo-problem. We have already measured the proton-capture reaction on 90Zr using high-resolution in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy. In this contribution, we will present our preliminary results of the total cross sections as well as the partial cross sections. Furthermore, we plan to measure the 91Nb(p,γ reaction soon. Due to the radioactive target material, the 91Nb nuclei have to be produced prior to the experiment. The current status of this production will be presented in this contribution.

We have calculated the mass accumulation efficiency during helium shell flashes to examine whether or not a carbon-oxygen white dwarf (C+O WD) grows up to the Chandrasekhar mass limit to ignite a Type Ia supernovaexplosion. It has been frequently argued that luminous super-soft X-ray sources and symbiotic stars are progenitors of SNe Ia. In such systems, a C+O WD accretes hydrogen-rich matter from a companion and burns hydrogen steadily on its surface. The WD develops a helium layer underneath the hydrogen-rich envelope and undergoes periodic helium shell flashes. Using OPAL opacity, we have reanalyzed a full cycle of helium shell flashes on a 1.3 M_ødot C+O WD and confirmed that the helium envelope of the WD expands to blow a strong wind. A part of the accumulated matter is lost by the wind. The mass accumulation efficiency is estimated as \\eta_{He} = -0.175 (\\log accretion rate \\dot M is in units of M_ødot yr^{-1}. In relatively high mass accretion rates as expected in recent SN Ia progenitor models, the...

Population III stars that die as pair-instability supernovae are usually thought to fall in the mass range of 140 - 260 M$_{\\odot}$. But several lines of work have now shown that rotation can build up the He cores needed to encounter the pair instability at stellar masses as low as 90 $_{\\odot}$. Depending on the slope of the initial mass function of Population III stars, there could be 4 - 5 times as many stars from 90 - 140 $_{\\odot}$ in the primordial universe than in the usually accepted range. We present numerical simulations of the pair-instability explosions of such stars performed with the MESA, FLASH and RAGE codes. We find that they will be visible to supernova factories such as Pan-STARRS and LSST in the optical out to z $\\sim$ 1 - 2 and to JWST and the 30 m-class telescopes in the NIR out to $z \\sim$ 7 - 10. Such explosions will thus probe the stellar populations of the first galaxies and cosmic star formation rates in the era of cosmological reionization. These supernovae are also easily distingu...

Type II-plateau supernovae (SNe IIP) are the most numerous subclass of core-collapse SNe originating from massive stars. In the framework of the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism, we study the properties of the SN outburst for a red supergiant progenitor model and compare the corresponding light curves with observations of the ordinary Type IIP SN 1999em. Three-dimensional (3D) simulations of (parametrically triggered) neutrino-driven explosions are performed with the (explicit, finite-volume, Eulerian, multifluid hydrodynamics) code Prometheus, using a presupernova model of a 15 M ⊙ star as initial data. On approaching homologous expansion, the hydrodynamic and composition variables of the 3D models are mapped to a spherically symmetric configuration, and the simulations are continued with the (implicit, Lagrangian, radiation hydrodynamics) code Crab to follow the evolution of the blast wave during the SN outburst. Our 3D neutrino-driven explosionmodel with an explosion energy of about 0.5× {10}51 erg produces 56Ni in rough agreement with the amount deduced from fitting the radioactively powered light-curve tail of SN 1999em. The considered presupernova model, 3D explosion simulations, and light-curve calculations can explain the basic observational features of SN 1999em, except for those connected to the presupernova structure of the outer stellar layers. Our 3D simulations show that the distribution of 56Ni-rich matter in velocity space is asymmetric with a strong dipole component that is consistent with the observations of SN 1999em. The monotonic decline in luminosity from the plateau to the radioactive tail in ordinary SNe IIP is a manifestation of the intense turbulent mixing at the He/H composition interface.

Asymmetric mass ejection in the early phase of supernova (SN) explosions can impart a kick velocity to the new-born neutron star (NS). For neutrino-driven explosions the NS acceleration was shown to be mainly caused by the gravitational attraction of the anisotropically expelled inner ejecta, while hydrodynamic forces contribute on a subdominant level, and asymmetric neutrino emission plays only a secondary role. Two- and three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations demonstrated that this gravitational tug-boat mechanism can explain the observed space velocities of young NSs up to more than 1000 km/s. Here, we discuss how the NS kick depends on the energy, ejecta mass, and asymmetry of the SN explosion, and which role the compactness of the pre-collapse stellar core plays for the momentum transfer to the NS. We also provide simple analytic expressions for the NS velocity in terms of these quantities. Referring to results of hydrodynamic simulations in the literature, we argue why within the discussed scenario o...

We study the growth of the explosion energy after shock revival in neutrino-driven explosions in two and three dimensions (2D/3D) using multi-group neutrino hydrodynamics simulations of an 11.2 M⊙ star. The 3D model shows a faster and steadier growth of the explosion energy and already shows signs of subsiding accretion after one second. By contrast, the growth of the explosion energy in 2D is unsteady, and accretion lasts for several seconds as confirmed by additional long-time simulations of stars of similar masses. Appreciable explosion energies can still be reached, albeit at the expense of rather high neutron star masses. In 2D, the binding energy at the gain radius is larger because the strong excitation of downward-propagating g modes removes energy from the freshly accreted material in the downflows. Consequently, the mass outflow rate is considerably lower in 2D than in 3D. This is only partially compensated by additional heating by outward-propagating acoustic waves in 2D. Moreover, the mass outflow rate in 2D is reduced because much of the neutrino energy deposition occurs in downflows or bubbles confined by secondary shocks without driving outflows. Episodic constriction of outflows and vertical mixing of colder shocked material and hot, neutrino-heated ejecta due to Rayleigh-Taylor instability further hamper the growth of the explosion energy in 2D. Further simulations will be necessary to determine whether these effects are generic over a wider range of supernova progenitors.

The effect of quark interactions perturbatively to order αc on the conversion, from quark matter to strange quark matter, is studied systematically based on a recent set of current quark masses. The process has a significant effect on increasing the core temperature, the neutrino abundance and the neutrino energies even if there is no quark interaction. Furthermore, with the switch of the strong interaction among quarks, these quantities will increase respectively to some further extents with αc increase. Taking αc = 0.47 as an example, the temperature, the neutrino abundance and the total neutrino energies are further raised by about 10%, 7%, and 20% respectively, which is weakly dependent on the initial temperature. Combining the effect of the current quark mass and the effect of the quark strong interaction, the results of the conversions will greatly enhance the probability of success for a supernovaexplosion and deeply influence the dynamics of the supernova evolution.

Models of neutrino-driven core-collapse supernovaexplosions have matured considerably in recent years. Explosions of low-mass progenitors can routinely be simulated in 1D, 2D, and 3D. Nucleosynthesis calculations indicate that these supernovae could be contributors of some lighter neutron-rich elements beyond iron. The explosion mechanism of more massive stars remains under investigation, although first 3D models of neutrino-driven explosions employing multi-group neutrino transport have become available. Together with earlier 2D models and more simplified 3D simulations, these have elucidated the interplay between neutrino heating and hydrodynamic instabilities in the post-shock region that is essential for shock revival. However, some physical ingredients may still need to be added/improved before simulations can robustly explain supernovaexplosions over a wide range of progenitors. Solutions recently suggested in the literature include uncertainties in the neutrino rates, rotation, and seed perturbations from convective shell burning. We review the implications of 3D simulations of shell burning in supernova progenitors for the `perturbations-aided neutrino-driven mechanism,' whose efficacy is illustrated by the first successful multi-group neutrino hydrodynamics simulation of an 18 solar mass progenitor with 3D initial conditions. We conclude with speculations about the impact of 3D effects on the structure of massive stars through convective boundary mixing.

Core-collapse supernovae are among Nature's most energetic events. They mark the end of massive star evolution and pollute the interstellar medium with the life-enabling ashes of thermonuclear burning. Despite their importance for the evolution of galaxies and life in the universe, the details of the core-collapse supernovaexplosion mechanism remain in the dark and pose a daunting computational challenge. We outline the multi-dimensional, multi-scale, and multi-physics nature of the core-collapse supernova problem and discuss computational strategies and requirements for its solution. Specifically, we highlight the axisymmetric (2D) radiation-MHD code VULCAN/2D and present results obtained from the first full-2D angle-dependent neutrino radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of the post-core-bounce supernova evolution. We then go on to discuss the new code Zelmani which is based on the open-source HPC Cactus framework and provides a scalable AMR approach for 3D fully general-relativistic modeling of stellar col...

A two-dimensional special relativistic radiation-hydrodynamics code is developed and applied to numerical simulations of supernova shock breakout in bipolar explosions of a blue supergiant. Our calculations successfully simulate the dynamical evolution of a blast wave in the star and its emergence from the surface. Results of the model with spherical energy deposition show a good agreement with previous simulations. Furthermore, we calculate several models with bipolar energy deposition and compare their results with the spherically symmetric model. The bolometric light curves of the shock breakout emission are calculated by a ray-tracing method. Our radiation-hydrodynamic models indicate that the early part of the shock breakout emission can be used to probe the geometry of the blast wave produced as a result of the gravitational collapse of the iron core.

We show that turbulence in core collapse supernovae (CCSNe) which has been shown recently to ease shock revival can also lead to the formation of intermittent thick accretion disks, or accretion belts, around the newly born neutron star (NS). The accretion morphology is such that two low density funnels are formed along the polar directions. The disks then are likely to launch jets with a varying axis direction, i.e., jittering-jets, through the two opposite funnels. The energy contribution of jets in this jittering jets mechanism can result in an explosion energy of E>10^51erg, even without reviving the stalled shock. We strengthen the jittering jets mechanism as a prominent explosion mechanism of CCSNe.

The recent discovery of the unprecedentedly superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh (or SN 2015L) challenges all the power-input models that have been proposed for superluminous supernovae. Here we examine some of the few viable interpretations of ASASSN-15lh in the context of a stellar explosion, involving combinations of one or more power inputs. We model the lightcurve of ASASSN-15lh with a hybrid model that includes contributions from magnetar spin-down energy and hydrogen-poor circumstellar interaction. We also investigate models of pure circumstellar interaction with a massive hydrogen-deficient shell and discuss about the lack of interaction features in the observed spectra. We find that ASASSN-15lh can be best modeled by the energetic core-collapse of a ~40 Msun supernova interacting with a hydrogen-poor shell of ~20 Msun. The circumstellar shell and progenitor mass are consistent with a rapidly rotating pulsational pair-instability supernova progenitor as required for strong interaction following the fin...

We argue that the properties of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) SN 2011fe can be best explained within the frame of the core-degenerate (CD) scenario. In the CD scenario a white dwarf (WD) merges with the core of an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star and forms a rapidly rotating WD, with a mass close to and above the critical mass for explosion. Rapid rotation prevents immediate collapse and/or explosion. Spinning down over a time of 0-10 Gyr brings the WD to explosion. A very long delayed explosion to post-crystallization phase, which lasts for ~2 Gyr leads to the formation of a highly carbon-enriched outer layer. This can account for the carbon-rich composition of the fastest-moving ejecta of SN 2011fe. In reaching the conclusion that the CD scenario best explains the observed properties of SN 2011fe we consider both its specific properties, like a very compact exploding object and carbon rich composition of the fastest-moving ejecta, and the general properties of SNe Ia.

We investigate the environment of the nearby (d ~ 40Mpc) broad-lined Type Ic supernova SN 2009bb. This event was observed to produce a relativistic outflow likely powered by a central accreting compact object. While such a phenomenon was previously observed only in long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs), no LGRB was detected in association with SN 2009bb. Using an optical spectrum of the SN 2009bb explosion site, we determine a variety of ISM properties for the host environment, including metallicity, young stellar population age, and star formation rate. We compare the SN explosion site properties to observations of LGRB and broad-lined SN Ic host environments on optical emission line ratio diagnostic diagrams. Based on these analyses, we find that the SN 2009bb explosion site has a very high metallicity of ~2x solar, in agreement with other broad-lined SN Ic host environments and at odds with the low-redshift LGRB host environments and recently proposed maximum metallicity limits for relativistic explosions...

Determination of the explosion type of supernova remnants (SNRs) can be challenging, as SNRs are hundreds to thousands of years old and supernovae (SNe) are classified based on spectral properties days after explosion. Previous studies of thermal X-ray emission from Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) SNRs have shown that Type Ia and core-collapse (CC) SNRs have statistically different symmetries, and thus these sources can be typed based on their X-ray morphologies. In this paper, we extend the same technique, a multipole expansion technique using power ratios, to infrared (IR) images of SNRs to test whether they can be typed using the symmetry of their warm dust emission as well. We analyzed archival Spitzer Space Telescope Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) 24 micron observations of the previously used X-ray sample, and we find that the two classes of SNRs separate according to their IR morphologies. The Type Ia SNRs are statistically more circular and mirror symmetric than the CC SNRs, likely due ...

the gas in the fountains. Due to angular momentum losses (of 10¿15% to the halo, we find that the fountain material falls back to smaller radii and is not largely spread over the galactic disk, as previously expected, but falls near the region where the fountain was produced This result is consistent with the metal distribution derived from recent chemical models of the galaxy. We also find that after about 150 Myr, the gas circulation between the halo and the disk in the fountains reaches a steady state regime, and this is relatively insensitive to the galacto-centric distance where the fountains are produced. The fall back material leads to the formation of new generations of complex structures that help to feed the supersonic turbulence in the disk.

Using a two-dimensional hydrodynamics code (PROMETHEUS), we study the continued evolution of rotating massive helium stars whose iron core collapse does not produce a successful outgoing shock, but instead forms a black hole. We study the formation of a disk, the associated flow patterns, and the accretion rate for disk viscosity parameter, alpha ~ 0.001 and 0.1. For the standard 14 solar mass model the average accretion rate for 15 s is 0.07 solar masses per second and the total energy deposited along the rotational axes by neutrino annihilation is (1 - 14) x 10**51 erg, depending upon the evolution of the Kerr parameter and uncertain neutrino efficiencies. Simulated deposition of this energy in the polar regions results in strong relativistic outflow - jets beamed to about 1.5% of the sky. The jets remain highly focused, and are capable of penetrating the star in 5 - 10 s. After the jet breaks through the surface of the star, highly relativistic flow can commence. Because of the sensitivity of the mass ejec...

Integral field spectroscopy of 11 Type Ib/Ic supernova (SN Ib/Ic) explosion sites in nearby galaxies has been obtained using UH88/SNIFS and Gemini-N/GMOS. The use of integral field spectroscopy enables us to obtain both spatial and spectral information about the explosion site, enabling the identification of the parent stellar population of the SN progenitor star. The spectrum of the parent population provides metallicity determination via strong-line method and age estimation obtained via comparison with simple stellar population models. We adopt this information as the metallicity and age of the SN progenitor, under the assumption that it was coeval with the parent stellar population. The age of the star corresponds to its lifetime, which in turn gives the estimate of its initial mass. With this method we were able to determine both the metallicity and initial (zero-age main sequence) mass of the progenitor stars of SNe Ib and Ic. We found that on average SN Ic explosion sites are more metal-rich and younger than SN Ib sites. The initial mass of the progenitors derived from parent stellar population age suggests that SN Ic has more massive progenitors than SN Ib. In addition, we also found indication that some of our SN progenitors are less massive than {approx}25 M{sub Sun }, indicating that they may have been stars in a close binary system that have lost their outer envelope via binary interactions to produce SNe Ib/Ic, instead of single Wolf-Rayet stars. These findings support the current suggestions that both binary and single progenitor channels are in effect in producing SNe Ib/Ic. This work also demonstrates the power of integral field spectroscopy in investigating SN environments and active star-forming regions.

We describe a survey of nearby core-collapse supernova (SN) explosion sites using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) technique, which is an extension of the work described in Kuncarayakti et al. (2013, AJ, 146, 30/31) . The project aims to constrain the SN progenitor properties based on the study of the SN immediate environment. The stellar populations present at the SN explosion sites are studied by means of integral field spectroscopy, which enables the acquisition of both spatial and spectral information of the object simultaneously. The spectrum of the SN parent stellar population gives the estimate of its age and metallicity. With this information, the initial mass and metallicity of the once coeval SN progenitor star are derived. While the survey is mostly done in optical, additionally the utilization of near-infrared integral field spectroscopy assisted with adaptive optics (AO) enables us to examine the explosion sites in high spatial details, down to a few parsecs. This work is being carried out using...

Type Ia supernova cosmology is currently limited by dispersion in standardized magnitudes, driven by a combination of calibration uncertainty and so-called ‘intrinsic dispersion.' This intrinsic dispersion is caused by supernova behavior that the current lightcurve fitters do not account for, and it can involve systematic trends. Using data from the Nearby Supernova Factory, we have developed an empirical model that captures a wider range of Type Ia supernova behavior and can be used to improve standardized magnitude dispersion. To do this, Gaussian Processes and Expectation Maximization Factor Analysis are used to generate spectral time series templates that can be combined linearly. Variations of this model are optimized, alternatively for supernova standardization or for maximum accuracy in the description of supernova spectral features. We present these models along with interpretation of the model components. Methods are discussed for the most efficient application of the models in cosmological surveys.

A phase transition (PT) to quark matter can lead to interesting phenomenological consequences in core-collapse supernovae, e.g., triggering an explosion in spherically symmetric models. However, until now this explosion mechanism was only shown to be working for equations of state that are in contradiction with recent pulsar mass measurements. Here we identify that this explosion mechanism is related to the existence of a third family of compact stars that is present only in the hot, early stages of their evolution. Its existence is a result of unusual thermal properties of the two-phase coexistence region of the PT, e.g., characterized by a decrease of temperature with increasing density for isentropes, and which can be related to a negative slope of the PT line in the temperature-pressure phase diagram.

Realistic atmospheric models that link the properties and the physical conditions of supernova ejecta to observable spectra are required for the quantitative interpretation of observational data of type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) and the assessment of the physical merits of theoretical supernovaexplosionmodels. The numerical treatment of the radiation transport - yielding the synthetic spectra - in models of SN Ia ejecta in early phases is usually carried out in analogy to atmospheric models of `normal' hot stars. Applying this analogy indiscriminately leads to inconsistencies in SN Ia models because a diffusive lower boundary, while justified for hot stars, is invalid for hydrogen and helium-deficient supernova ejecta. In type Ia supernovae the radiation field does not thermalize even at large depths, and large optical depths are not reached at all wavelengths. We derive an improved description of the lower boundary that allows a more consistent solution of the radiation transfer in SN Ia and therefore yields m...

Dark matter is believed to be a major component of our universe. In this paper we propose a new mechanism based on dark matter inspired super-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf to explain the recent observation of super luminous type Ia supernovaeexplosions. Our calculation shows when a white dwarf accretes enough dark matter, due to the Pauli exclusive principle between fermionic dark matter particles, the mass of corresponding dark white dwarf (which means the white dwarf mixed with dark matters) can significantly exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit. Moreover, we investigate some physical observable quantities, such as the redshift and moment of inertia of the dark white dwarf and found that these quantities are sensitive to the dark matter particle's distributions and thus can be potentially used to probe the relevant information of dark matter particles in the future.

The absorption feature O I 7773 is an important spectral indicator for type Ia supernovae (SNe~Ia) that can be used to trace the unburned material at outer layers of the exploding white dwarf. In this work, we use a large sample of SNe~Ia to examine this absorption at early phases (i.e., -13 days explosive oxygen burning occurs at the outermost layer of supernova and difference in burning there could lead to the observed diversity, which are in ...

With the aim of improving our knowledge about the nature of the progenitors of low-luminosity Type II plateau supernovae (LL SNe IIP), we made radiation-hydrodynamical models of the well-sampled LL SNe IIP 2003Z, 2008bk and 2009md. For these three SNe, we infer explosion energies of 0.16-0.18 foe, radii at explosion of 1.8-3.5 × 1013 cm and ejected masses of 10-11.3 M⊙. The estimated progenitor mass on the main sequence is in the range ˜13.2-15.1 M⊙ for SN 2003Z and ˜11.4-12.9 M⊙ for SNe 2008bk and 2009md, in agreement with estimates from observations of the progenitors. These results together with those for other LL SNe IIP modelled in the same way enable us also to conduct a comparative study on this SN sub-group. The results suggest that (a) the progenitors of faint SNe IIP are slightly less massive and have less energetic explosions than those of intermediate-luminosity SNe IIP; (b) both faint and intermediate-luminosity SNe IIP originate from low-energy explosions of red (or yellow) supergiant stars of low to intermediate mass; (c) some faint objects may also be explained as electron-capture SNe from massive super-asymptotic giant branch stars; and (d) LL SNe IIP form the underluminous tail of the SNe IIP family, where the main parameter `guiding' the distribution seems to be the ratio of the total explosion energy to the ejected mass. Further hydrodynamical studies should be performed and compared to a more extended sample of LL SNe IIP before drawing any conclusion on the relevance of fall-back to this class of events.

Atomic and molecular physics of supernovae is discussed with an emphasis on the importance of detailed treatments of the critical atomic and molecular processes with the best available atomic and molecular data. The observations of molecules in SN 1987A are interpreted through a combination of spectral and chemical modelings, leading to strong constraints on the mixing and nucleosynthesis of the supernova. The non-equilibrium chemistry is used to argue that carbon dust can form in the oxygen-rich clumps where the efficient molecular cooling makes the nucleation of dust grains possible. For Type Ia supernovae, the analyses of their nebular spectra lead to strong constraints on the supernovaexplosionmodels.

We present extensive optical observations of a Type IIn supernova (SN IIn) 2010jl for the first 1.5 years after its discovery. The UBVRI light curves demonstrated an interesting two-stage evolution during the nebular phase, which almost flatten out after about 90 days from the optical maximum. SN 2010jl has one of the highest intrinsic H{alpha} luminosities ever recorded for an SN IIn, especially at late phase, suggesting a strong interaction of SN ejecta with the dense circumstellar material (CSM) ejected by the progenitor. This is also indicated by the remarkably strong Balmer lines persisting in the optical spectra. One interesting spectral evolution about SN 2010jl is the appearance of asymmetry of the Balmer lines. These lines can be well decomposed into a narrow component and an intermediate-width component. The intermediate-width component showed a steady increase in both strength and blueshift with time until t {approx} 400 days after maximum, but it became less blueshifted at t {approx} 500 days, when the line profile appeared relatively symmetric again. Owing to the fact that a pure reddening effect will lead to a sudden decline of the light curves and a progressive blueshift of the spectral lines, we therefore propose that the asymmetric profiles of H lines seen in SN 2010jl are unlikely due to the extinction by newly formed dust inside the ejecta, contrary to the explanation by some early studies. Based on a simple CSM-interaction model, we speculate that the progenitor of SN 2010jl may suffer a gigantic mass loss ({approx}30-50 M{sub Sun }) a few decades before explosion. Considering a slow-moving stellar wind (e.g., {approx}28 km s{sup -1}) inferred for the preexisting, dense CSM shell and the extremely high mass-loss rate (1-2 M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1}), we suggest that the progenitor of SN 2010jl might have experienced a red supergiant stage and may explode finally as a post-red supergiant star with an initial mass above 30-40 M{sub Sun }.

With the aim of improving our knowledge about the nature of the progenitors of low-luminosity Type II plateau supernovae (LL SNe IIP), we made radiation-hydrodynamical models of the well-sampled LL SNe IIP 2003Z, 2008bk and 2009md. For these three SNe we infer explosion energies of $0.16$-$0.18$ foe, radii at explosion of $1.8$-$3.5 \\times 10^{13}$ cm, and ejected masses of $10$-$11.3$\\Msun. The estimated progenitor mass on the main sequence is in the range $\\sim 13.2$-$15.1$\\Msun\\, for SN 2003Z and $\\sim 11.4$-$12.9$\\Msun\\, for SNe 2008bk and 2009md, in agreement with estimates from observations of the progenitors. These results together with those for other LL SNe IIP modelled in the same way, enable us also to conduct a comparative study on this SN sub-group. The results suggest that: a) the progenitors of faint SNe IIP are slightly less massive and have less energetic explosions than those of intermediate-luminosity SNe IIP, b) both faint and intermediate-luminosity SNe IIP originate from low-energy explo...

We present results of simulations of stellar collapse and explosions in spherical symmetry for progenitor stars in the 8-10 solar mass range with an O-Ne-Mg core. The simulations were continued until nearly one second after core bounce and were performed with the Prometheus/Vertex code with a variable Eddington factor solver for the neutrino transport, including a state-of-the-art treatment of neutrino-matter interactions. Particular effort was made to implement nuclear burning and electron capture rates with sufficient accuracy to ensure a smooth continuation, without transients, from the progenitor evolution to core collapse. Using two different nuclear equations of state (EoSs), a soft version of the Lattimer & Swesty EoS and the significantly stiffer Wolff & Hillebrandt EoS, we found no prompt explosions, but instead delayed explosions, powered by neutrino heating and the neutrino-driven baryonic wind which sets in about 200 ms after bounce. The models eject little nickel ( 0.46, which suggests a ...

Spectra of Type-IIn Supernovae (SNe) have shown evidence of interaction between SN ejecta and a surrounding circumstellar medium (CSM). Namely, narrow Hydrogen lines indicate that the fast moving ejecta slows after it collides with the slow moving CSM. However, observations of eta-Carinae and spectropolarimetry of SN2009ip during its 2012 explosion have shown that the CSM may often be asymmetric. In this study, we investigate the ability of an asymmetric CSM to disguise the characteristic narrow H lines expected from Type-IIn SNe. We perform two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the interaction between supernova ejecta and CSM. The simulations are run using the moving-mesh hydrodynamics code JET. Previous studies have ignored possible asymmetries by limiting their calculations to one-dimension or assuming a spherically symmetric CSM. We calculate shock propagation within the disk and CSM heating rate to produce mock-bolometric light curves. We also track unshocked CSM mass and speculate on its effects on the observation of H lines.

Models of core-collapse supernovaexplosions powered by the neutrino-driven mechanism have matured considerable in recent years. Explosions at the low-mass end of the progenitor spectrum can routinely be simulated in 1D, 2D, and 3D and allow us to study supernova nucleosynthesis based on first-principle models. Results of nucleosynthesis calculations indicate that supernovae of the lowest masses could be important contributors of some lighter n-rich elements beyond iron. The explosion mechanism of more massive stars is still under investigation, although first 3D models of neutrino-driven explosions employing multi-group neutrino transport have recently become available. Together with earlier 2D models and more simplified 3D simulations, these have elucidated the interplay between neutrino heating and hydrodynamic instabilities in the post-shock region that is essential for shock revival. However, some physical ingredients may still need to be added or improved before simulations can robustly explain supernov...

We investigate the early impact of single and binary supernova (SN) explosions on dense gas clouds with three-dimensional, high-resolution, hydrodynamic simulations. The effect of cloud structure, radiative cooling, and ionising radiation from the progenitor stars on the net input of kinetic energy, f_kin=E_kin/E_SN, thermal energy, f_therm=E_therm/E_SN, and gas momentum f_P=P/P_SN to the interstellar medium (ISM) is tested. For clouds with n=100 cm^{-3}, the momentum generating Sedov and pressure-driven snowplough phases are terminated early (~ 0.01 Myr) and radiative cooling limits the coupling to f_therm ~ 0.01, f_kin ~ 0.05, and f_P ~ 9, significantly lower than for the case without cooling. For pre-ionised clouds these numbers are only increased by ~ 50%, independent of the cloud structure. This only suffices to accelerate ~ 5% of the cloud to radial velocities >30km/s. A second SN might further enhance the coupling efficiencies if delayed past the Sedov phase of the first explosion. Such very low coupli...

Energetics of nuclear reaction is fundamentally important to understand the mechanism of pair instability supernovae (PISNe). Based on the hydrodynamic equations and thermodynamic relations, we derive exact expressions for energy conservation suitable to be solved in simulation. We also show that some formulae commonly used in the literature are obtained as approximations of the exact expressions. We simulate the evolution of very massive stars of ~100-320 Msun with zero- and 1/10 Zsun, and calculate further explosions as PISNe, applying each of the exact and approximate formulae. The calculations demonstrate that the explosion properties of PISN, such as the mass range, the 56Ni yield, and the explosion energy, are significantly affected by applying the different energy generation rates. We discuss how these results affect the estimate of the PISN detection rate, which depends on the theoretical predictions of such explosion properties.

We present results from computational simulations of core-collapse supernovae in {\\tt FLASH} using a newly-implemented multidimensional neutrino transport scheme and a newly-implemented general relativistic (GR) treatment of gravity. For the neutrino transport, we use a two moment method with an analytic closure (so-called M1 transport). This transport is multienergy, multispecies and truly multidimensional since we do not assume the commonly used ray-by-ray approximation. Our GR gravity is implemented in our Newtonian hydrodynamics simulations via an effective relativistic potential that closely reproduces the GR structure of neutron stars and has been shown to match GR simulations of core collapse quite well. In axisymmetry, we simulate core-collapse supernovae with five different progenitor models in both Newtonian and GR gravity. We find that the more compact protoneutron star structure realized in simulations with GR gravity gives higher neutrino luminosities and higher neutrino energies. These differenc...

Massive young star clusters contain dozens or hundreds of massive stars that inject mechanical energy in the form of winds and supernovaexplosions, producing an outflow which expands into their surrounding medium, shocking it and forming structures called superbubbles. The regions of shocked material can have temperatures in excess of 10$^6$ K, and emit mainly in thermal X-rays (soft and hard). This X-ray emission is strongly affected by the action of thermal conduction, as well as by the metallicity of the material injected by the massive stars. We present three-dimensional numerical simulations exploring these two effects, metallicity of the stellar winds and supernovaexplosions, as well as thermal conduction.

Being a superluminous supernova, PTF12dam can be explained by a 56Ni-powered model, a magnetar-powered model, or an interaction model. We propose that PTF12dam is a pulsational pair-instability supernova, where the outer envelope of a progenitor is ejected during the pulsations. Thus, it is powered by a double energy source: radioactive decay of 56Ni and a radiative shock in a dense circumstellar medium. To describe multicolor light curves and spectra, we use radiation-hydrodynamics calculations of the STELLA code. We found that light curves are well described in the model with 40 M⊙ ejecta and 20–40 M⊙ circumstellar medium. The ejected 56Ni mass is about 6 M⊙, which results from explosive nucleosynthesis with large explosion energy (2–3) × 1052 erg. In comparison with alternative scenarios of pair-instability supernova and magnetar-powered supernova, in the interaction model, all the observed main photometric characteristics are well reproduced: multicolor light curves, color temperatures, and photospheric velocities.

The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) was a multi-cycle treasury program on the Hubble Space Telescope(HST) that surveyed a total area of approx. 0.25 deg(sup 2) with approx.900 HST orbits spread across five fields over three years. Within these survey images we discovered 65 supernovae (SNe) of all types, out to z approx. 2.5. We classify approx. 24 of these as Type Ia SNe (SNe Ia) based on host galaxy redshifts and SN photometry (supplemented by grism spectroscopy of six SNe). Here we present a measurement of the volumetric SN Ia rate as a function of redshift, reaching for the first time beyond z = 2 and putting new constraints on SN Ia progenitor models. Our highest redshift bin includes detections of SNe that exploded when the universe was only approx. 3 Gyr old and near the peak of the cosmic star formation history. This gives the CANDELS high redshift sample unique leverage for evaluating the fraction of SNe Ia that explode promptly after formation (500 Myr). Combining the CANDELS rates with all available SN Ia rate measurements in the literature we find that this prompt SN Ia fraction isfP0.530.09stat0.100.10sys0.26, consistent with a delay time distribution that follows a simplet1power law for all timest40 Myr. However, mild tension is apparent between ground-based low-z surveys and space-based high-z surveys. In both CANDELS and the sister HST program CLASH (Cluster Lensing And Supernova Survey with Hubble), we find a low rate of SNe Ia at z > 1. This could be a hint that prompt progenitors are in fact relatively rare, accounting for only 20 of all SN Ia explosions though further analysis and larger samples will be needed to examine that suggestion.

Young Galactic supernova remnants are unique laboratories for supernova physics. Due to their proximity they provide us with the most detailed view of the outcome of a supernova. However, the exact spectroscopic types of their original explosions have been undetermined so far -hindering to link the wealth of multi-wavelength knowledge about their remnants with the diverse population of supernovae. Light echoes, reflektions of the brilliant supernova burst of light by interstellar dust, provide a unique opportunity to reobserve today -with powerful scientific instruments of the 21st century -historic supernova exlosions even after hundreds of years and to conclude on their nature. We report on optical light-echo spectroscopy of two famous Galactic supernovae: Tycho Brahe's SN 1572 and the supernova that created the Cassiopeia A remnant around the year 1680. These observations finally recovered the missing spectroscopic classifications and provide new constraints on explosionmodels for future studies.

The well-studied type IIP SN 1987A, produced by the explosion of a blue supergiant (BSG) star, is a touchstone for massive-star evolution, simulations of neutrino-driven explosions, and modeling of light curves and spectra. In the framework of the neutrino-driven mechanism, we study the dependence of explosion properties on the structure of four different BSGs and compare the corresponding light curves with observations of SN 1987A. We perform 3D simulations with the PROMETHEUS code until about one day and map the results to the 1D code CRAB for the light curve calculations. All of our 3D models with explosion energies compatible with SN 1987A produce 56Ni in rough agreement with the amount deduced from fitting the radioactively powered light-curve tail. One of the progenitors yields maximum velocities of ~3000 km/s for the bulk of ejected 56Ni, consistent with observations. In all of our models inward mixing of hydrogen during the 3D evolution leads to minimum H-velocities below 100 km/s, in good agreement w...

The nearby supernova SN 2011fe can be observed in unprecedented detail. Therefore, it is an important test case for Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) models, which may bring us closer to understanding the physical nature of these objects. Here, we explore how available and expected future observations of SN 2011fe can be used to constrain SN Ia explosion scenarios. We base our discussion on three-dimensional simulations of a delayed detonation in a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf and of a violent merger of two white dwarfs (WDs)-realizations of explosionmodels appropriate for two of the most widely discussed progenitor channels that may give rise to SNe Ia. Although both models have their shortcomings in reproducing details of the early and near-maximum spectra of SN 2011fe obtained by the Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory), the overall match with the observations is reasonable. The level of agreement is slightly better for the merger, in particular around maximum, but a clear preference for one model over the other is still not justified. Observations at late epochs, however, hold promise for discriminating the explosion scenarios in a straightforward way, as a nucleosynthesis effect leads to differences in the {sup 55}Co production. SN 2011fe is close enough to be followed sufficiently long to study this effect.

A leading model for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) begins with a white dwarf near the Chandrasekhar mass that ignites a degenerate thermonuclear runaway close to its center and explodes. In a series of papers, we shall explore the consequences of ignition at several locations within such dwarfs. Here we assume central ignition, which has been explored before, however, the problem is worth revisiting, if only to validate those previous studies and to further elucidate the relevant physics for future work. A perturbed sphere of hot iron ash with a radius of ~100 km is initialized at the middle of the star. The subsequent explosion is followed in several simulations using a thickened flame model in which the flame speed is either fixed --- within the range expected from turbulent combustion --- or based on the local turbulent intensity. Global results, including the explosion energy and bulk nucleosynthesis (e.g. 56Ni of 0.48--0.56 $\\Msun$) turn out to be insensitive to this speed. In all completed runs, the energy...

We study the multi-dimensional geometry of supernova (SN) explosions by means of spectropolarimetric observations of stripped-envelope SNe, i.e., SNe without a hydrogen-rich layer. We perform spectropolarimetric observations of two stripped-envelope SNe, Type Ib SN 2009jf and Type Ic SN 2009mi. Both objects show non-zero polarization at the wavelength of the strong lines. They also show a loop in the Stokes Q - U diagram, which indicates a non-axisymmetric, three-dimensional ion distribution in the ejecta. We show that five out of six stripped-envelope SNe, which have been observed spectropolarimetrically so far, show such a loop. This implies that a three-dimensional geometry is common in stripped-envelope SNe. We find that stronger lines tend to show higher polarization. This effect is not related to the geometry, and must be corrected for to compare the polarization of different lines or different objects. Even after the correction, however, there remains a dispersion of polarization degree among different objects. Such a dispersion might be caused by three-dimensional clumpy ion distributions viewed from different directions.

We study the multi-dimensional geometry of supernova (SN) explosions by means of spectropolarimetric observations of stripped-envelope SNe, i.e., SNe without a H-rich layer. We perform spectropolarimetric observations of 2 stripped-envelope SNe, the Type Ib SN 2009jf and the Type Ic SN 2009mi. Both objects show non-zero polarization at the wavelength of the strong lines. They also show a loop in the Stokes Q-U diagram, which indicates a non-axisymmetric, three-dimensional ion distribution in the ejecta. We show that five out of six stripped-envelope SNe which have been observed spectropolarimetrically so far show such a loop. This implies that a three-dimensional geometry is common in stripped-envelope SNe. We find that stronger lines tend to show higher polarization. This effect is not related to the geometry, and must be corrected to compare the polarization of different lines or different objects. Even after the correction, however, there remains a dispersion of polarization degree among different objects....

We elaborate on a previously proposed idea that polarized electrons produced from neutrons, released in a supernova (SN) explosion, can cause chiral dissymmetry of molecules in interstellar gas-dust clouds. A specific physical mechanism of a relativistic neutron fireball with Lorentz factor of the order of 100 is assumed for propelling a great number of free neutrons outside the dense SN shell. A relativistic chiral electron-proton plasma, produced from neutron decays, is slowed down owing to collective effects in the interstellar plasma. As collective effects do not involve the particle spin, the electrons can carry their helicities to the cloud. The estimates show high chiral efficiency of such electrons. In addition to this mechanism, production of circularly polarized ultraviolet photons through polarized-electron bremsstrahlung at an early stage of the fireball evolution is considered. It is shown that these photons can escape from the fireball plasma. However, for an average density of neutrals in the interstellar medium of the order of 0.2 cm(-3) and at distances of the order of 10 pc from the SN, these photons will be absorbed with a factor of about 10(-7) due to the photoeffect. In this case, their chiral efficiency will be about five orders of magnitude less than that for polarized electrons.

Recent observations have revealed a stunning diversity of extremely luminous supernovae, seemingly increasing in radiant energy without bound. We consider simple approximate limits for what existing models can provide for the peak luminosity and total radiated energy for non-relativistic, isotropic stellar explosions. The brightest possible supernova is a Type I explosion powered by a sub-millisecond magnetar with field strength B ∼ few × {10}13 G. In extreme cases, such models might reach a peak luminosity of 2× {10}46 {erg} {{{s}}}-1 and radiate a total energy of up to 4× {10}52 {erg}. Other less luminous models are also explored, including prompt hyper-energetic explosions in red supergiants, pulsational-pair instability supernovae, pair-instability supernovae, and colliding shells. Approximate analytic expressions and limits are given for each case. Excluding magnetars, the peak luminosity is near 3× {10}44 {erg} {{{s}}}-1 for the brightest models and the corresponding limit on total radiated energy is 3× {10}51 {erg}. Barring new physics, supernovae with a light output over 3× {10}51 erg must be rotationally powered, either during the explosion itself or after, the most obvious candidate being a rapidly rotating magnetar. A magnetar-based model for the recent transient event, ASASSN-15lh is presented that strains, but does not exceed the limits of what the model can provide.

The recent discovery of the unprecedentedly super-luminous transient ASASSN-15lh (or SN 2015L) with its UV-bright secondary peak challenges all the power-input models that have been proposed for super-luminous supernovae. Here we examine some of the few viable interpretations of ASASSN-15lh in the context of a stellar explosion, involving combinations of one or more power inputs. We model the light curve of ASASSN-15lh with a hybrid model that includes contributions from magnetar spin-down energy and hydrogen-poor circumstellar interaction. We also investigate models of pure circumstellar interaction with a massive hydrogen-deficient shell and discuss the lack of interaction features in the observed spectra. We find that, as a supernova, ASASSN-15lh can be best modeled by the energetic core-collapse of an ˜40 M ⊙ star interacting with a hydrogen-poor shell of ˜20 M ⊙. The circumstellar shell and progenitor mass are consistent with a rapidly rotating pulsational pair-instability supernova progenitor as required for strong interaction following the final supernovaexplosion. Additional energy injection by a magnetar with an initial period of 1-2 ms and magnetic field of 0.1-1 × 1014 G may supply the excess luminosity required to overcome the deficit in single-component models, but this requires more fine-tuning and extreme parameters for the magnetar, as well as the assumption of efficient conversion of magnetar energy into radiation. We thus favor a single-input model where the reverse shock formed in a strong SN ejecta-circumstellar matter interaction following a very powerful core-collapse SN explosion can supply the luminosity needed to reproduce the late-time UV-bright plateau.

Calculations of synthetic spectropolarimetry are one means to test multidimensional explosionmodels for Type Ia supernovae. In a recent paper, we demonstrated that the violent merger of a 1.1 and 0.9 M⊙ white dwarf binary system is too asymmetric to explain the low polarization levels commonly observed in normal Type Ia supernovae. Here, we present polarization simulations for two alternative scenarios: the sub-Chandrasekhar mass double-detonation and the Chandrasekhar mass delayed-detonation model. Specifically, we study a 2D double-detonation model and a 3D delayed-detonation model, and calculate polarization spectra for multiple observer orientations in both cases. We find modest polarization levels (<1 per cent) for both explosionmodels. Polarization in the continuum peaks at ˜0.1-0.3 per cent and decreases after maximum light, in excellent agreement with spectropolarimetric data of normal Type Ia supernovae. Higher degrees of polarization are found across individual spectral lines. In particular, the synthetic Si II λ6355 profiles are polarized at levels that match remarkably well the values observed in normal Type Ia supernovae, while the low degrees of polarization predicted across the O I λ7774 region are consistent with the non-detection of this feature in current data. We conclude that our models can reproduce many of the characteristics of both flux and polarization spectra for well-studied Type Ia supernovae, such as SN 2001el and SN 2012fr. However, the two models considered here cannot account for the unusually high level of polarization observed in extreme cases such as SN 2004dt.

A number of CFD models are currently available to model gaseous explosions in complex geometries. Some of these tools allow the representation of complex environments within hydrocarbon production plants. In certain explosion scenarios, a correction is usually made for the presence of buildings and other complexities by using crude approximations to obtain realistic estimates of explosion behaviour as can be found when predicting the strength of blast waves resulting from initial explosions. With the advance of computational technology, and greater availability of computing power, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools are becoming increasingly available for solving such a wide range of explosion problems. A CFD-based explosion code - FLACS can, for instance, be confidently used to understand the impact of blast overpressures in a plant environment consisting of obstacles such as buildings, structures, and pipes. With its porosity concept representing geometry details smaller than the grid, FLACS can represent geometry well, even when using coarse grid resolutions. The performance of FLACS has been evaluated using a wide range of field data. In the present paper, the concept of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and its application to gas explosion prediction is presented. Furthermore, the predictive capabilities of CFD-based gaseous explosion simulators are demonstrated using FLACS. Details about the FLACS-code, some extensions made to FLACS, model validation exercises, application, and some results from blast load prediction within an industrial facility are presented. (orig.)

Massive stars that lose their hydrogen-rich envelope down to a few tenths of a solar mass explode as extended type IIb supernovae, an intriguing subtype that links the hydrogen-rich type II supernovae with the hydrogen-poor type Ib and Ic. The progenitors may be very massive single stars that lose their envelope due to their stellar wind, but mass stripping due to interaction with a companion star in a binary system is currently considered to be the dominant formation channel. We computed an extensive grid of binary models with the Eggleton binary evolution code. The predicted rate from our standard models, which assume conservative mass transfer, is about 6 times smaller than the current rate indicated by observations. It is larger but still comparable to the rate expected from single stars. To recover the observed rate we must generously allow for uncertainties and low accretion efficiencies in combination with limited angular momentum loss from the system. Motivated by the claims of detection and non-detec...

Hydronamics of Explosion presents the research results for the problems of underwater explosions and contains a detailed analysis of the structure and the parameters of the wave fields generated by explosions of cord and spiral charges, a description of the formation mechanisms for a wide range of cumulative flows at underwater explosions near the free surface, and the relevant mathematical models. Shock-wave transformation in bubbly liquids, shock-wave amplification due to collision and focusing, and the formation of bubble detonation waves in reactive bubbly liquids are studied in detail. Particular emphasis is placed on the investigation of wave processes in cavitating liquids, which incorporates the concepts of the strength of real liquids containing natural microinhomogeneities, the relaxation of tensile stress, and the cavitation fracture of a liquid as the inversion of its two-phase state under impulsive (explosive) loading. The problems are classed among essentially nonlinear processes that occur unde...

Calculations of synthetic spectropolarimetry are one means to test multi-dimensional explosionmodels for Type Ia supernovae. In a recent paper, we demonstrated that the violent merger of a 1.1 and 0.9 M$_{\\odot}$ white dwarf binary system is too asymmetric to explain the low polarization levels commonly observed in normal Type Ia supernovae. Here, we present polarization simulations for two alternative scenarios: the sub-Chandrasekhar mass double-detonation and the Chandrasekhar mass delayed-detonation model. Specifically, we study a two-dimensional double-detonation model and a three-dimensional delayed-detonation model, and calculate polarization spectra for multiple observer orientations in both cases. We find modest polarization levels ($explosion models. Polarization in the continuum peaks at $\\sim$ 0.1$-$0.3 per cent and decreases after maximum light, in excellent agreement with spectropolarimetric data of normal Type Ia supernovae. Higher degrees of polarization are found ac...

The nearby supernova SN 2011fe can be observed in unprecedented detail. Therefore, it is an important test case for Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) models, which may bring us closer to understanding the physical nature of these objects. Here, we explore how available and expected future observations of SN 2011fe can be used to constrain SN Ia explosion scenarios. We base our discussion on three-dimensional simulations of a delayed detonation in a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf and of a violent merger of two white dwarfs-realizations of explosionmodels appropriate for two of the most widely-discussed progenitor channels that may give rise to SNe Ia. Although both models have their shortcomings in reproducing details of the early and near-maximum spectra of SN 2011fe obtained by the Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory), the overall match with the observations is reasonable. The level of agreement is slightly better for the merger, in particular around maximum, but a clear preference for one model over the other is s...

We demonstrate that $\\sim10$ seconds after core-collapse of a massive star, a thermonuclear explosion of the outer shells is possible for some (tuned) initial density and composition profiles, assuming the neutrinos failed to explode the star. The explosion may lead to a successful supernova, as first suggested by Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler and Hoyle (1957). We perform a series of one-dimensional (1D) calculations of collapsing massive stars with simplified initial density profiles (similar to the results of stellar evolution calculations) and various compositions (not similar to 1D stellar evolution calculations). We assume that the neutrinos escaped with negligible effect on the outer layers, which inevitably collapse. As the shells collapse, they compress and heat up adiabatically, enhancing the rate of thermonuclear burning. In some cases, where significant shells of mixed helium and oxygen are present with pre-collapsed burning times of $\\lesssim100\\,\\textrm{s}$ ($\\approx10$ times the free-fall time), a ...

Early time observations of SN2011fe show a variation in luminosity consistent with a simple fireball model of almost constant color (L ~ t^2). In contrast, our delayed detonations of Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs (DDC series) exhibit a steeper brightening rate (L ~ t^6) and redder colors early on. Treating additional unstable isotopes besides 56Ni has little impact. Strong chemical mixing reduces the discrepancy between model and observations a few days after explosion. In this paper, we explore other means to produce bluer and brighter SNe Ia at early times with pulsational-delayed detonations (PPDEL series). These models differ significantly from DDC models in that more carbon remains unburnt, newly created IMEs are confined to a narrower region in velocity space, and the shock-heated outer layers are of lower density and are much hotter immediately after the explosion. PDDEL models show bluer colors and a higher luminosity at early times. Our calculations show that at early times radioactive decay heatin...

The ultimate fate of the universe, infinite expansion or a big crunch, can be determined by measuring the redshifts, apparent brightnesses, and intrinsic luminosities of very distant supernovae. Recent developments have provided tools that make such a program practicable: (1) Studies of relatively nearby Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have shown that their intrinsic luminosities can be accurately determined; (2) New research techniques have made it possible to schedule the discovery and follow-up observations of distant supernovae, producing well over 50 very distant (z = 0.3 -- 0.7) SNe Ia to date. These distant supernovae provide a record of changes in the expansion rate over the past several billion years. By making precise measurements of supernovae at still greater distances, and thus extending this expansion history back far enough in time, we can distinguish the slowing caused by the gravitational attraction of the universe's mass density Omega_M from the effect of a possibly inflationary pressure caused ...

Thermodynamic states encountered during afterburning of explosion products gases in air were analyzed with the Cheetah code. Results are displayed in the form of Le Chatelier diagrams: the locus of states of specific internal energy versus temperature, for six different condensed explosives charges. Accuracy of the results was confirmed by comparing the fuel and products curves with the heats of detonation and combustion, and species composition as measured in bomb calorimeter experiments. Results were fit with analytic functions u = f ( T ) suitable for specifying the thermodynamic properties required for gas-dynamic models of afterburning in explosions.

We use hydrodynamical simulations in a $(256\\;{\\rm pc})^3$ periodic box to model the impact of supernova (SN) explosions on the multi-phase interstellar medium (ISM) for initial densities $n =$ 0.5-30 cm$^{-3}$ and SN rates 1-720 Myr$^{-1}$. We include radiative cooling, diffuse heating, and the formation of molecular gas using a chemical network. The SNe explode either at random positions, at density peaks, or both. We further present a model combining thermal energy for resolved and momentum input for unresolved SN remnants. Random driving at high SN rates results in hot gas ($T\\gtrsim 10^6$ K) filling $> 90$% of the volume. This gas reaches high pressures ($10^4 50$%), residing in small, dense clumps. Such a model might resemble the dense ISM in high-redshift galaxies. Peak driving results in huge radiative losses, but disrupts the densest regions by construction, producing a filamentary ISM with virtually no hot gas, and a small molecular hydrogen mass fraction ($\\ll 1$%). Varying the ratio of peak to ran...

We examine observed heavy element abundances in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant as a constraint on the nature of the Cas A supernova. We compare bulk abundances from 1D and 3D explosionmodels and spatial distribution of elements in 3D models with those derived from X-ray observations. We also examine the cospatial production of 26Al with other species. We find that the most reliable indicator of the presence of 26Al in unmixed ejecta is a very low S/Si ratio (~0.05). Production of N in O/S/Si-rich regions is also indicative. The biologically important element P is produced at its highest abundance in the same regions. Proxies should be detectable in supernova ejecta with high spatial resolution multiwavelength observations.

Supernova remnats (SNRs) show a complex morphology characterized by an inhomogeneous spatial distribution of ejecta, believed to reflect pristine structures and features of the progenitor supernova (SN) explosion. Filling the gap between SN explosions and their remnants is very important for a comprehension of the origin of present-day structure of ejecta in SNRs and to probe and constraint current models of SN explosions. The SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is an attractive laboratory for studying the SNe-SNRs connection, being one of the best studied SNRs for which its 3D structure is known. We present a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model describing the evolution of Cas A from the immediate aftermath of the SN explosion to its expansion through the interstellar medium, taking into account the distribution of element abundances of the ejecta, the back reaction of accelerated cosmic rays at the shock front, and the deviations from equilibrium of ionizazion for the most important elements. We use the model to derive the physical parameters characterizing the SN explosion and reproducing the today morphology of Cas A.

The results of recent multi-dimensional simulations of type-II supernovae are reviewed. They show that convective instabilities in the collapsed stellar core might play an important role already during the first second after the formation of the supernovae shock. Convectively unstable situations occur below and near the neutrinosphere as well as in the neutrino-heated region between the nascent neutron star and the supernova shock after the latter has stalled at a radiums of typically 100-200 km. While convective overturn in the layer of neutrino energy deposition clearly helps the explosion to develop and potentially provides an explanation of strong mantle and envelope mixing, asphericities, and non-uniform {sup 56}Ni distribution observed in supernova SN 1987A, its presence and importance depends on the strength of the neutrino heating and thus on the size of the neutrino fluxes from the neutrino star. Convection in the hot-bubble region can only be developed if the growth timescale of the instabilities and the heating timescale are both shorter than the accretion timescale of the matter advected through the stagnant shock. For too small neutrino luminosities this requirement is not fulfilled and convective activity cannot develop, leading to very weak explosions or even fizzling models, just as in the one-dimensional situations. Convectively enhanced neutrino luminosities from the protoneutron star can therefore provide an essential condition for the explosion of the star. Very recent two-dimensional, self-consistent, general relativistic simulations of the cooling of a newly-formed neutron star demonstrate and confirm the possibility that Ledoux convection, driven by negative lepton number and entropy gradients, may encompass the whole protoneutron star within less than one second and can lead to an increase of the neutrino fluxes by up to a factor of two. (author) 9 figs., refs.

We present nebular-phase imaging and spectroscopy for the hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova SN 2015bn, at redshift z=0.1136, spanning +250-400 d after maximum light. The light curve exhibits a steepening in the decline rate from 1.4 mag/(100 d) to 1.7 mag/(100 d), suggestive of a significant decrease in the opacity. This change is accompanied by a transition from a blue continuum superposed with photospheric absorption lines to a nebular spectrum dominated by emission lines of oxygen, calcium and magnesium. There are no obvious signatures of circumstellar interaction or large nickel mass. We show that the spectrum at +400 d is virtually identical to a number of energetic Type Ic supernovae such as SN 1997dq, SN 2012au, and SN 1998bw, indicating similar core conditions and strengthening the link between `hypernovae'/long gamma-ray bursts and superluminous supernovae. A single explosion mechanism may unify these events that span absolute magnitudes of -22 < M_B < -17. Both the light curve and spectrum...

We constrain the properties of the progenitor system of the highly reddened Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2014J in Messier 82 (M82; d (is) approx. 3.5 Mpc). We determine the supernova (SN) location using Keck-II K-band adaptive optics images, and we find no evidence for flux from a progenitor system in pre-explosion near-ultraviolet through near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images. Our upper limits exclude systems having a bright red giant companion, including symbiotic novae with luminosities comparable to that of RS Ophiuchi. While the flux constraints are also inconsistent with predictions for comparatively cool He-donor systems (T (is) approximately 35,000 K), we cannot preclude a system similar to V445 Puppis. The progenitor constraints are robust across a wide range of RV and AV values, but significantly greater values than those inferred from the SN light curve and spectrum would yield proportionally brighter luminosity limits. The comparatively faint flux expected from a binary progenitor system consisting of white dwarf stars would not have been detected in the pre-explosion HST imaging. Infrared HST exposures yield more stringent constraints on the luminosities of very cool (T (is) less than 3000 K) companion stars than was possible in the case of SN Ia 2011fe.

We live in a Universe that is getting bigger faster. This astonishing discovery of Universal acceleration was made in the late 1990s by two teams who made observations of a special type of exploded star known as a `Supernova Type Ia'. (SNeIa) Since the discovery of the accelerating Universe, one of the biggest questions in modern cosmology has been to determine the cause of that acceleration - the answer to this question will have far reaching implications for our theories of cosmology and fundamental physics more broadly. The two main competing explanations for this apparent late time acceleration of the Universe are modified gravity and dark energy. The Dark Energy Survey (DES) has been designed and commissioned to find to find answers to these questions about the nature of dark energy and modified gravity. The new 570 megapixel Dark Energy Camera is currently operating with the Cerro-Tololo Inter American Observatory's 4m Blanco teleccope, carrying out a systematic search for SNeIa, and mapping out the large scale structure of the Universe by making observations of galaxies. The DES science program program which saw first light in September 2013 will run for five years in total. DES SNeIa data in combination with the other DES observations of large scale structure will enable us to put increasingly accurate constraints on the expansion history of the Universe and will help us distinguish between competing theories of dark energy and modified gravity. As we draw to the close of the first observing season of DES in March 2014, we will report on the current status of the DES supernova survey, presenting first year supernovae data, preliminary results, survey strategy, discovery pipeline, spectroscopic target selection and data quality. This talk will give the first glimpse of the DES SN first year data and initial results as we begin our five year survey in search of dark energy. On behalf of the Dark Energy Survey collaboration.

The ultimate fate of the universe, infinite expansion or a big crunch, can be determined by measuring the redshifts, apparent brightnesses, and intrinsic luminosities of very distant supernovae. Recent developments have provided tools that make such a program practicable: (1) Studies of relatively nearby Type la supernovae (SNe la) have shown that their intrinsic luminosities can be accurately determined; (2) New research techniques have made it possible to schedule the discovery and follow-up observations of distant supernovae, producing well over 50 very distant (z = 0.3-0.7) SNe Ia to date. These distant supernovae provide a record of changes in the expansion rate over the past several billion years. By making precise measurements of supernovae at still greater distances, and thus extending this expansion history back far enough in time, we can even distinguish the slowing caused by the gravitational attraction of the universe's mass density {Omega}{sub M} from the effect of a possibly inflationary pressure caused by a cosmological constant {Lambda}. We report here the first such measurements, with our discovery of a Type Ia supernova (SN 1997ap) at z = 0.83. Measurements at the Keck II 10-m telescope make this the most distant spectroscopically confirmed supernova. Over two months of photometry of SN 1997ap with the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes, when combined with previous measurements of nearer SNe la, suggests that we may live in a low mass-density universe. Further supernovae at comparable distances are currently scheduled for ground and space-based observations.

TNT Equivalency methods are widely used for vapour cloud explosion blast modeling. Presently, however, other types of models are available which do not have the fundamental objections TNT Equivalency models have. TNO Multi-Energy method is increasingly accepted as a more reasonable alternative to be

An improved model of the mechanical properties of the explosive contained in conventional munitions is needed to accurately simulate performance and accident scenarios in weapons storage facilities. A specific class of explosives can he idealized as a mixture of two components: energetic crystals randomly suspended in a polymeric matrix (binder). Strength characteristics of each component material are important in the macroscopic behavior of the composite (explosive). Of interest here is the determination of an appropriate constitutive law for a polyurethane binder material. This paper is a continuation of previous work in modeling polyurethane at moderately high strain rates and for large deformations. Simulation of a large deformation (strains in excess of 100%) Taylor Anvil experiment revealed numerical difficulties which have been addressed. Additional experimental data have been obtained including improved resolution Taylor Anvil data, and stress relaxation data at various strain rates. A thorough evaluation of the candidate viscoelastic constitutive model is made and possible improvements discussed.

We present an overview of axisymmetric core-collapse supernova simulations employing neutrino transport scheme by the isotropic diffusion source approximation. Studying 101 solar-metallicity progenitors covering zero-age main sequence mass from 10.8 to 75.0 solar masses, we systematically investigate how the differences in the structures of these multiple progenitors impact the hydrodynamics evolution. By following a long-term evolution over 1.0 s after bounce, most of the computed models exhibit neutrino-driven revival of the stalled bounce shock at about 200 - 800 ms postbounce, leading to the possibility of explosion. Pushing the boundaries of expectations in previous one-dimensional studies, our results show that the time of shock revival, evolution of shock radii, and diagnostic explosion energies are tightly correlated with the compactness parameter xi which characterizes the structure of the progenitors. Compared to models with low xi, models with high xi undergo high ram pressure from the accreting ma...

In this paper we present 3D simulations of the gravitationally confined detonation (GCD) model of Type Ia Supernovae with multiple ignition points as initial conditions. These simulations release more energy during the deflagration (subsonic nuclear combustion) phase than previous GCD simulations initiated with a single ignition point. Due to the increased amount of fuel consumed during the deflagration, the star undergoes a more energetic pulsation which at the time of detonation increases the amount of low-density, intermediate-mass-producing material and decreases the amount of high-density, NSE-producing material. This results in the production of approximately 0.7 M⊙ of 56Ni in the explosion, an amount that observations indicate is produced in Type Ia supernovae having typical luminosities.

Full Text Available A dense neutrino medium such as that inside a core-collapse supernova can experience collective flavor conversion or oscillations because of the neutral-current weak interaction among the neutrinos. This phenomenon has been studied in a restricted, stationary supernovamodel which possesses the (spatial spherical symmetry about the center of the supernova and the (directional axial symmetry around the radial direction. Recently it has been shown that these spatial and directional symmetries can be broken spontaneously by collective neutrino oscillations. In this letter we analyze the neutrino flavor instabilities in a time-dependent supernovamodel. Our results show that collective neutrino oscillations start at approximately the same radius in both the stationary and time-dependent supernovamodels unless there exist very rapid variations in local physical conditions on timescales of a few microseconds or shorter. Our results also suggest that collective neutrino oscillations can vary rapidly with time in the regimes where they do occur which need to be studied in time-dependent supernovamodels.

Spectropolarimetry is one of the most powerful methods to study the multi-dimensional geometry of supernovae (SNe). We present a brief summary of the spectropolarimetric observations of stripped-envelope core-collapse SNe. Observations indicate that stripped-envelope SNe generally have a non-axisymmetric ion distribution in the ejecta. Three-dimensional clumpy geometry nicely explains the observed properties. A typical size of the clumps deduced from observations is relatively large: http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="RSTA20160273IM1"/>25% of the photosphere. Such a large-scale clumpy structure is similar to that observed in Cassiopeia A, and suggests that large-scale convection or standing accretion shock instability takes place at the onset of the explosion. This article is part of the themed issue 'Bridging the gap: from massive stars to supernovae'.

In the single degenerate scenario for Type Ia supernova (SNeIa), a white dwarf (WD) must gain a significant amount of matter from a companion star. Because the accreted mass carries angular momentum, the WD is likely to achieve fast spin periods, which can increase the critical mass, $M_{crit}$, needed for explosion. When $M_{crit}$ is higher than the maximum mass achieved by the WD, the WD must spin down before it can explode. This introduces a delay between the time at which the WD has completed its epoch of mass gain and the time of the explosion. Matter ejected from the binary during mass transfer therefore has a chance to become diffuse, and the explosion occurs in a medium with a density similar to that of typical regions of the interstellar medium. Also, either by the end of the WD's mass increase or else by the time of explosion, the donor may exhaust its stellar envelope and become a WD. This alters, generally diminishing, explosion signatures related to the donor star. Nevertheless, the spin-up/spin...

We present fits of generalized semi-analytic supernova (SN) light curve (LC) models for a variety of power inputs including {sup 56}Ni and {sup 56}Co radioactive decay, magnetar spin-down, and forward and reverse shock heating due to supernova ejecta-circumstellar matter (CSM) interaction. We apply our models to the observed LCs of the H-rich superluminous supernovae (SLSN-II) SN 2006gy, SN 2006tf, SN 2008am, SN 2008es, CSS100217, the H-poor SLSN-I SN 2005ap, SCP06F6, SN 2007bi, SN 2010gx, and SN 2010kd, as well as to the interacting SN 2008iy and PTF 09uj. Our goal is to determine the dominant mechanism that powers the LCs of these extraordinary events and the physical conditions involved in each case. We also present a comparison of our semi-analytical results with recent results from numerical radiation hydrodynamics calculations in the particular case of SN 2006gy in order to explore the strengths and weaknesses of our models. We find that CS shock heating produced by ejecta-CSM interaction provides a better fit to the LCs of most of the events we examine. We discuss the possibility that collision of supernova ejecta with hydrogen-deficient CSM accounts for some of the hydrogen-deficient SLSNe (SLSN-I) and may be a plausible explanation for the explosion mechanism of SN 2007bi, the pair-instability supernova candidate. We characterize and discuss issues of parameter degeneracy.

Mergers of carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarfs (WDs) are considered as one of the potential progenitors of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Recent hydrodynamical simulations showed that the less massive (secondary) WD violently accretes onto the more massive (primary) one, carbon detonation occurs, the detonation wave propagates through the primary, and the primary finally explodes as a sub-Chandrasekhar mass SN Ia. Such an explosion mechanism is called the violent merger scenario. Based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of merging CO WDs, we derived more stringent critical mass ratio (qcr) leading to the violent merger scenario than the previous results. We conclude that this difference mainly comes from the differences in the initial condition, synchronously spinning of WDs or not. Using our new results, we estimated the brightness distribution of SNe Ia in the violent merger scenario and compared it with previous studies. We found that our new qcr does not significantly affect the brightness...

We have previously developed a PBX 9501 cookoff model for the plastic bonded explosive PBX 9501 consisting of 95 wt% octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazoncine (HMX), 2.5 wt% Estane® 5703 (a polyurethane thermoplastic), and 2.5 wt% of a nitroplasticizer (NP): BDNPA/F, a 50/50 wt% eutectic mixture bis(2,2-dinitropropyl)-acetal (BDNPA) and bis(2,2-dinitropropyl)-formal (BDNPF). This fivestep model includes desorption of water, decomposition of the NP to form NO2, reaction of the NO2 with Estane and HMX, and decomposition of HMX [1]. This model has been successfully validated with data from six laboratories with scales ranging from 2 g to more than 2.5 kg of explosive. We have determined, that the PBX 9501 model can be used to predict cookoff of other plastic bonded explosives containing HMX and an inert binder, such as LX-04 consisting of 85 wt% HMX and 15 wt% Viton A (vinylidine fluoride/hexafluoropropylene copolymer), LX-07 (90 wt% HMX and 10 wt% Viton A), LX- 10-0 (95 wt% HMX and 5 wt% Viton A), and LX-14 consisting of 95.5 wt % HMX and 4.5 wt% Estane® 5702-F1 (a polyurethane thermoplastic). Normally our cookoff models are verified using Sandia’s Instrumented Thermal Initiation (SITI) experiment. However, SITI data for LX-04, LX-07, LX-10-0, and LX-14 are not available at pressed density; although, some molding powder SITI data on LX-10-0 and LX-14 exists. Tarver and Tran [2] provide some one-dimensional time-to-explosion (ODTX) data for these explosives. The applicability of the PBX 9501 model to LX-04, LX-07, LX-10-0, AND LX-14 was made using this ODTX data [2]. The PBX 9501 model is applied to these other explosives by accounting for the correct amount of HMX in the explosive and limiting the NP reaction. We have found the PBX 9501 model to be useful for predicting the response of these PBXs to abnormal thermal environments such as fire.

Almost all superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) whose peak magnitudes are ≲ -21 mag can be explained by the 56Ni-powered model, the magnetar-powered (highly magnetized pulsar) model, or the ejecta-circumstellar medium (CSM) interaction model. Recently, iPTF13ehe challenged these energy-source models, because the spectral analysis shows that ˜ 2.5{M}⊙ of 56Ni have been synthesized, but are inadequate to power the peak bolometric emission of iPTF13ehe, while the rebrightening of the late-time light curve (LC) and the Hα emission lines indicate that the ejecta-CSM interaction must play a key role in powering the late-time LC. Here we propose a triple-energy-source model, in which a magnetar together with some amount (≲ 2.5{M}⊙ ) of 56Ni may power the early LC of iPTF13ehe, while the late-time rebrightening can be quantitatively explained by an ejecta-CSM interaction. Furthermore, we suggest that iPTF13ehe is a genuine core-collapse supernova rather than a pulsational pair-instability supernova candidate. Further studies on similar SLSNe in the future would eventually shed light on their explosion and energy-source mechanisms.

We review VLBI observations of supernovae over the last quarter century and discuss the prospect of imaging future supernovae with space VLBI in the context of VSOP-2. From thousands of discovered supernovae, most of them at cosmological distances, ˜50 have been detected at radio wavelengths, most of them in relatively nearby galaxies. All of the radio supernovae are Type II or Ib/c, which originate from the explosion of massive progenitor stars. Of these, 12 were observed with VLBI and four of them, SN 1979C, SN 1986J, SN 1993J, and SN 1987A, could be imaged in detail, the former three with VLBI. In addition, supernovae or young supernova remnants were discovered at radio wavelengths in highly dust-obscured galaxies, such as M82, Arp 299, and Arp 220, and some of them could also be imaged in detail. Four of the supernovae so far observed were sufficiently bright to be detectable with VSOP-2. With VSOP-2 the expansion of supernovae can be monitored and investigated with unsurpassed angular resolution, starting as early as the time of the supernova's transition from its opaque to transparent stage. Such studies can reveal, in a movie, the aftermath of a supernovaexplosion shortly after shock break out.

Supernova (SN) explosions play an important role in the development of galactic structures. The energy and momentum imparted on the interstellar medium (ISM) in so called "supernova feedback" drives turbulence, heats the gas, enriches it with heavy elements, can lead to the formation of new stars or even suppress star formation by disrupting stellar nurseries. In the numerical simulation at the sub-galactic level, not including the energy and momentum of supernovas in the physical description of the problem can also lead to several problems that might partially be resolved by including a description of supernovas. In this thesis such an implementation is attempted for the combined numerical hydrodynamics and N-body simulation software Arepo (Springel, 2010). In a stochastic process a large amount of thermal energy is imparted on a number of neighbouring cells, mimicking the effect of a supernovaexplosions. We test this approach by modelling the explosion of a single supernova in a uniform density medium and ...

Recent observations have revealed an amazing diversity of extremely luminous supernovae, seemingly increasing in radiant energy without bound. We consider here the physical limits of what existing models can provide for the peak luminosity and total radiated energy for non-relativistic, isotropic stellar explosions. The brightest possible supernova is a Type I explosion powered by a sub-millisecond magnetar. Such models can reach a peak luminosity of $\\rm 2\\times10^{46}\\ erg\\ s^{-1}$ and radiate a total energy of $\\rm 4 \\times10^{52}\\ erg$. Other less luminous models are also explored, including prompt hyper-energetic explosions in red supergiants, pulsational-pair instability supernovae, and pair-instability supernovae. Approximate analytic expressions and limits are given for each case. Excluding magnetars, the peak luminosity is near $\\rm 1\\times10^{44}\\ erg\\ s^{-1}$ for the brightest models. The corresponding limits on total radiated power are $\\rm3 \\times 10^{51}\\ erg$ (Type I) and $\\rm1 \\times 10^{51}\\ ...

We present optical photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Type Ibn (SN 2006jc-like) supernova iPTF13beo. Detected by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory on 2013 May 19.39, ~3 hours after the estimated explosion time, iPTF13beo is the youngest and the most distant (430 Mpc) Type Ibn event ever observed. Type Ibn events are rare, and their early evolution, both photometric and spectroscopic, has not been studied yet. The iPTF13beo light curve is consistent with light curves of other Type Ibn SNe and with light curves of fast Type Ic events, but with a slightly faster rise-time of two days. In addition, the iPTF13beo light curve exhibits a double-peak structure separated by 9 days, not observed before in any Type Ibn SN. Low-resolution spectra were obtained during the two peaks of the iPTF13beo light curve. The spectrum taken during the rising stage (2.4 days after the estimated explosion time) is featureless and similar to early spectra of SNe Ic-BL. The spectrum obtained during the declining ...

Besides the fact that the gamma-ray emission due to radioactive decays is responsible for powering the light curves of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), gamma rays themselves are of particular interest as a diagnostic tool because they provide a direct way to obtain deeper insights into the nucleosynthesis and the kinematics of these explosion events. Focusing on two of the most broadly discussed SN Ia progenitor scenarios - a delayed detonation in a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf (WD) and a violent merger of two WDs - we use three-dimensional explosionmodels and perform radiative transfer simulations to obtain synthetic gamma-ray spectra. Both chosen models produce the same mass of 56Ni and have similar optical properties that are in reasonable agreement with the recently observed supernova SN 2011fe. In contrast to the optical regime, the gamma-ray emission of our two chosen models proves to be rather different. The almost direct connection of the emission of gamma rays to fundamental physical processes occurin...

If neutrino flavor changes really exist, to say: $\\mu$-neutrino oscillating into a sterile neutrino, then, it can be expected that due to neutrino oscillations and non-spherical distortion of the resonance surface induced by the magnetic field, some asymmetric emission of sterile neutrinos can occur during the protoneutron star formation at the onset of a supernova core-collapse. Assuming no strong suppression of the oscillations, the non-spherical huge neutrino energies released, ($\\sim 10^{...

We present BVRI photometry and optical spectroscopy of two Type Ic supernovae SN 2007bg and SN 2007bi discovered in wide-field, non-targeted surveys and associated with sub-luminous blue dwarf galaxies. Neither SNe 2007bg nor 2007bi were found in association with an observed GRB, but are found to inhabit similar low-metallicity environments as GRB associated supernovae. The radio-bright SN 2007bg is hosted by an extremely sub-luminous galaxy of magnitude MB = -12.4+/-0.6 mag with an estimated oxygen abundance of 12+log(O/H) = 8.18+/-0.17. The lightcurve of SN 2007bg displays one of the fastest post-maximum decline rates of all broad-lined Type Ic supernovae known to date and, when combined with its high expansion velocities, a high kinetic energy to ejected mass ratio (E_K/Mej ~ 2.7). We show that SN 2007bi is possibly the most luminous Type Ic known, reaching a peak magnitude of MR ~ 21.3 mag and displays a remarkably slow decline, following the radioactive decay rate of 56Co to 56Fe throughout the course of...

The observed association between supernovae and gamma-ray bursts represents a cornerstone in our understanding of the nature of gamma-ray bursts. The collapsar model provides a theoretical framework for this connection. A key element is the launch of a bipolar jet (seen as a gamma-ray burst). The resulting hot cocoon disrupts the star, whereas the (56)Ni produced gives rise to radioactive heating of the ejecta, seen as a supernova. In this discussion paper, I summarize the observational status of the supernova-gamma-ray burst connection in the context of the 'engine' picture of jet-driven supernovae and highlight SN 2012bz/GRB 120422A--with its luminous supernova but intermediate high-energy luminosity--as a possible transition object between low-luminosity and jet gamma-ray bursts. The jet channel for supernovaexplosions may provide new insights into supernovaexplosions in general.

Full Text Available A model is described that can be used to estimate the bulk polarization of largerotating meteoroids in the magnetic field of a neutron star. The results of this model areapplicable to the Supernova Neutrino Amino Acid Processing model, which describes onepossible way in which the amino acids, known in nearly all cases to exhibit supramolecularchirality, could have become enantiomeric.

Presupernova models of massive stars are presented and their explosion by ''delayed neutrino transport'' examined. A new form of long duration Type II supernovamodel is also explored based upon repeated encounter with the electron-positron pair instability in stars heavier than about 60 Msub solar. Carbon deflagration in white dwarfs is discussed as the probable explanation of Type I supernovae and special attention is paid to the physical processes whereby a nuclear flame propagates through degenerate carbon. 89 refs., 12 figs.

What causes the tremendous explosions of superluminous supernovae? New observations reveal the geometry of one such explosion, SN 2015bn, providing clues as to its source.A New Class of ExplosionsImage of a type Ia supernova in the galaxy NGC 4526. [NASA/ESA]Supernovae are powerful explosions that can briefly outshine the galaxies that host them. There are several different classifications of supernovae, each with a different physical source such as thermonuclear instability in a white dwarf, caused by accretion of too much mass, or the exhaustion of fuel in the core of a massive star, leading to the cores collapse and expulsion of its outer layers.In recent years, however, weve detected another type of supernovae, referred to as superluminous supernovae. These particularly energetic explosions last longer months instead of weeks and are brighter at their peaks than normal supernovae by factors of tens to hundreds.The physical cause of these unusual explosions is still a topic of debate. Recently, however, a team of scientists led by Cosimo Inserra (Queens University Belfast) has obtained new observations of a superluminous supernova that might help address this question.The flux and the polarization level (black lines) along the dominant axis of SN 2015bn, 24 days before peak flux (left) and 28 days after peak flux (right). Blue lines show the authors best-fitting model. [Inserra et al. 2016]Probing GeometryInserra and collaborators obtained two sets of observations of SN 2015bn one roughly a month before and one a month after the superluminous supernovas peak brightness using a spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope in Chile. These observations mark the first spectropolarimetric data for a superluminous supernova.Spectropolarimetry is the practice of obtaining information about the polarization of radiation from an objects spectrum. Polarization carries information about broken spatial symmetries in the object: only if the object is perfectly symmetric can it

In this work, we show that when supernova Ia (SN Ia) data sets are used to put constraints on the free parameters of inhomogeneous models, certain extra information regarding the light-curve fitter used in the supernovae Ia luminosity fluxes processing should be taken into account. We found that the size of the void as well as other parameters of these models might be suffering extra degenerations or additional systematic errors due to the fitter. A recent proposal to relieve the tension between the results from Planck satellite and SNe Ia is re-analyzed in the framework of these subjects.

Full Text Available We present progress in light curve models of type II-P supernovae (SNe II-P obtained using a newly devel- oped, one-dimensional hydrodynamic code. Using simple initial models (polytropes, we reproduced the global behavior of the observed light curves and we analyzed the sensitivity of the light curves to the variation of free parameters.

Supernovae enormous explosions associated with the end of a stars life come in a variety of types with different origins. A new study has examined how the brightest supernovae in the Universe are produced, and what limits might be set on their brightness.Ultra-Luminous ObservationsRecent observations have revealed many ultra-luminous supernovae, which haveenergies that challenge our abilities to explain them usingcurrent supernovamodels. An especially extreme example is the 2015 discovery of the supernova ASASSN-15lh, which shone with a peak luminosity of ~2*1045 erg/s, nearly a trillion times brighter than the Sun. ASASSN-15lh radiated a whopping ~2*1052 erg in the first four months after its detection.How could a supernova that bright be produced? To explore the answer to that question, Tuguldur Sukhbold and Stan Woosley at University of California, Santa Cruz, have examined the different sources that could produce supernovae and calculated upper limits on the potential luminosities ofeach of these supernova varieties.ExplosiveModelsSukhbold and Woosley explore multiple different models for core-collapse supernovaexplosions, including:Prompt explosionA stars core collapses and immediately explodes.Pair instabilityElectron/positron pair production at a massive stars center leads to core collapse. For high masses, radioactivity can contribute to delayed energy output.Colliding shellsPreviously expelled shells of material around a star collide after the initial explosion, providing additional energy release.MagnetarThe collapsing star forms a magnetar a rapidly rotating neutron star with an incredibly strong magnetic field at its core, which then dumps energy into the supernova ejecta, further brightening the explosion.They then apply these models to different types of stars.Setting the LimitThe authors show that the light curve of ASASSN-15lh (plotted in orange) can be described by a model (black curve) in which a magnetar with an initial spin period of 0.7 ms

We study the growth of the explosion energy after shock revival in neutrino-driven explosions in two and three dimensions (2D/3D) using multi-group neutrino hydrodynamics simulations of an $11.2 M_\\odot$ star. The 3D model shows a faster and steadier growth of the explosion energy and already shows signs of subsiding accretion after one second. By contrast, the growth of the explosion energy in 2D is unsteady, and accretion lasts for several seconds as confirmed by additional long-time simulations of stars of similar masses. Appreciable explosion energies can still be reached, albeit at the expense of rather high neutron star masses. In 2D, the binding energy at the gain radius is larger because the strong excitation of downward-propagating $g$-modes removes energy from the freshly accreted material in the downflows. Consequently, the mass outflow rate is considerably lower in 2D than in 3D. This is only partially compensated by additional heating by outward-propagating acoustic waves in 2D. Moreover, the mas...

We present 1-D non-Local-Thermodynamic-Equilibrium time-dependent radiative-transfer simulations for supernovae (SNe) of type IIb, Ib, and Ic that result from the terminal explosion of the mass donor in a close-binary system. Here, we select three ejecta with a total kinetic energy of ~1.2e51erg, but characterised by different ejecta masses (2-5Msun), composition, and chemical mixing. The type IIb/Ib models correspond to the progenitors that have retained their He-rich shell at the time of explosion. The type Ic model arises from a progenitor that has lost its helium shell, but retains 0.32Msun of helium in a CO-rich core of 5.11Msun. We discuss their photometric and spectroscopic properties during the first 2-3 months after explosion, and connect these to their progenitor and ejecta properties including chemical stratification. For these three models, Arnett's rule overestimates the 56Ni mass by ~50% while the procedure of Katz et al., based on an energy argument, yields a more reliable estimate. The presenc...

We investigate whether pure deflagration models of Chandrasekhar-mass carbon-oxygen white dwarf stars can account for one or more sub-class of the observed population of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosions. We compute a set of three-dimensional full-star hydrodynamic explosionmodels, in which the deflagration strength is parametrized using the multi-spot ignition approach. For each model, we calculate detailed nucleosynthesis yields in a post-processing step with a 384 nuclide nuclear network. We also compute synthetic observables with our three-dimensional Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code for comparison with observations. For weak and intermediate deflagration strengths (energy release E_nuc explosion leaves behind a bound remnant enriched with 3 to 10 per cent (by mass) of deflagration ashes. However, we do not obtain the large kick velocities recently reported in the literature. We find that weak deflagrations with E_nuc ~ 0.5 x 10^51 erg fit well both the ligh...

The work is devoted to numerical simulations of the interaction of heat explosion with natural convection. The model consists of the heat equation with a nonlinear source term describing heat production due to an exothermic chemical reaction coupled with the Navier-Stokes equations under the Boussinesq approximation. We show how complex regimes appear through successive bifurcations leading from a stable stationary temperature distribution without convection to a stationary symmetric convective solution, stationary asymmetric convection, periodic in time oscillations, and finally aperiodic oscillations. A simplified model problem is suggested. It describes the main features of solutions of the complete problem.

We attribute the recently discovered cosmic ray electron and cosmic ray positron excess components and their cutoffs to the acceleration in the supernova shock in the polar cap of exploding Wolf-Rayet and red supergiant stars. Considering a spherical surface at some radius around such a star, the magnetic field is radial in the polar cap as opposed to most of 4pi (the full solid angle), where the magnetic field is nearly tangential. This difference yields a flatter spectrum, and also an enhanced positron injection for the cosmic rays accelerated in the polar cap. This reasoning naturally explains the observations. Precise spectral measurements will be the test, as this predicts a simple E;{-2} spectrum for the new components in the source, steepened to E;{-3} in observations with an E;{-4} cutoff.

Dust handling poses a potential explosion hazard in many industrial facilities. The consequences of a dust explosion are often severe and similar to a gas explosion; however, its occurrence is conditional to the presence of five elements: combustible dust, ignition source, oxidant, mixing and confinement. Dust explosion researchers have conducted experiments to study the characteristics of these elements and generate data on explosibility. These experiments are often costly but the generated data has a significant scope in estimating the probability of a dust explosion occurrence. This paper attempts to use existing information (experimental data) to develop a predictive model to assess the probability of a dust explosion occurrence in a given environment. The pro-posed model considers six key parameters of a dust explosion: dust particle diameter (PD), minimum ignition energy (MIE), minimum explosible concentration (MEC), minimum ignition temperature (MIT), limiting oxygen concentration (LOC) and explosion pressure (Pmax). A conditional probabilistic approach has been developed and embedded in the proposed model to generate a nomograph for assessing dust explosion occurrence. The generated nomograph provides a quick assessment technique to map the occurrence probability of a dust explosion for a given environment defined with the six parameters.

During the first few days after explosion, Type II supernovae (SNe) are dominated by relatively simple physics. Theoretical predictions regarding early-time SN light curves in the ultraviolet (UV) and optical bands are thus quite robust. We present, for the first time, a sample of 57 R-band SN II light curves that are well-monitored during their rise, with \\gt 5 detections during the first 10 days after discovery, and a well-constrained time of explosion to within 1-3 days. We show that the energy per unit mass (E/M) can be deduced to roughly a factor of five by comparing early-time optical data to the 2011 model of Rabinak & Waxman, while the progenitor radius cannot be determined based on R-band data alone. We find that SN II explosion energies span a range of E/M = (0.2-20) × 1051 erg/(10 {M}⊙ ), and have a mean energy per unit mass of =0.85× {10}51 erg/(10 {M}⊙ ), corrected for Malmquist bias. Assuming a small spread in progenitor masses, this indicates a large intrinsic diversity in explosion energy. Moreover, E/M is positively correlated with the amount of 56Ni produced in the explosion, as predicted by some recent models of core-collapse SNe. We further present several empirical correlations. The peak magnitude is correlated with the decline rate ({{Δ }}{m}15), the decline rate is weakly correlated with the rise time, and the rise time is not significantly correlated with the peak magnitude. Faster declining SNe are more luminous and have longer rise times. This limits the possible power sources for such events.

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are a complex class of sources, and their heterogeneous nature has hindered the characterization of their general observational properties. To overcome this challenge, we use statistical tools to analyze the Chandra X-ray images of Galactic and Large Magellanic Cloud SNRs. We apply two techniques, a power-ratio method (a multipole expansion) and wavelet-transform analysis, to measure the global and local morphological properties of the X-ray line and thermal emission in twenty-four SNRs. We find that Type Ia SNRs have statistically more spherical and mirror symmetric thermal X-ray emission than core-collapse (CC) SNRs. The ability to type SNRs based on thermal emission morphology alone enables, for the first time, the typing of SNRs with weak X-ray lines or with low-resolution spectra. We identify one source, SNR G344.7-0.1, as originating from a CC explosion that was previously unknown, and we confirm the tentative Type Ia classifications of G337.2-0.7 and G272.2-3.2. Although the g...

We present seven epochs of spectropolarimetry of the Type IIb supernova (SN) 2011dh in M51, spanning 86 days of its evolution. The first epoch was obtained 9 days after the explosion, when the photosphere was still in the depleted hydrogen layer of the stripped-envelope progenitor. Continuum polarization is securely detected at the level of P~0.5% through day 14 and appears to diminish by day 30, which is different from the prevailing trends suggested by studies of other core-collapse SNe. Time-variable modulations in P and position angle are detected across P-Cygni line features. H-alpha and HeI polarization peak after 30 days and exhibit position angles roughly aligned with the earlier continuum, while OI and CaII appear to be geometrically distinct. We discuss several possibilities to explain the evolution of the continuum and line polarization, including the potential effects of a tidally deformed progenitor star, aspherical radioactive heating by fast-rising plumes of Ni-56 from the core, oblique shock b...

For the presupernova model Ws15M⊙, we re-calculate the electron capture (EC) timescale and hydrodynamical (HD) timescale. We found that the EC timescale can be smaller than the HD timescale in the inner region of the collapse iron core at the moment immediately before the shock wave bounce. The change in these two timescales at the late stage of core collapse is expected to affect the collapse velocity. If the late-time collapse velocity is artificially increased by a small quantity, then prompt explosion of the supernova may happen. Further calculations are still needed to check the plausibility of the acceleration mechanism caused by the faster EC process.

Early-time observations of Type II supernovae (SNe) 2013cu and 2013fs have revealed an interaction of ejecta with material near the star surface. Unlike Type IIn SN 2010jl, which interacts with a dense wind for 1 yr, the interaction ebbs after 2-3 d, suggesting a dense and compact circumstellar envelope. Here, we use multi-group radiation hydrodynamics and non-local-thermodynamic-equilibrium radiative transfer to explore the properties of red-supergiant (RSG) star explosions embedded in a variety of dense envelopes. We consider the cases of an extended static atmosphere or a steady-state wind, adopting a range of mass loss rates. The shock breakout signal, luminosity and color evolution up to 10 d, and ejecta dynamics are strongly influenced by the properties of this nearby environment. This compromises the use of early-time observations to constrain R⋆. For dense circumstellar envelopes, the time-integrated luminosity over the first 10-15 d can be boosted by a factor of a few. The presence of narrow lines for 2-3 d in 2013fs and 2013cu require a cocoon of material of 0.01 M⊙ out to 5-10 R⋆. Spectral lines evolve from electron scattering to Doppler broadened with a growing blueshift of their emission peaks. Recent studies propose a super-wind phase with a mass loss rate from 0.001 up to 1 M⊙ yr-1 in the last months or years of the life of a RSG, although there is no observational constraint that this external material is a steady-state outflow. Alternatively, observations may be explained by the explosion of a RSG star inside its complex atmosphere. Indeed, spatially resolved observations reveal that RSG stars have extended atmospheres, with the presence of downflows and upflows out to several R⋆, even in a standard RSG such as Betelgeuse. Mass loading in the region intermediate between star and wind can accommodate the 0.01 M⊙ needed to explain the observations of 2013fs. Signatures of interaction in early-time spectra of RSG star explosions may

In the version of the SD scenario of SNe Ia studied here, a CO WD explodes close to the Chandrasekhar limit after accreting material from a non-degenerate He companion. In the present study, we employ the Stellar GADGET code to perform 3D hydrodynamical simulations of the interaction of the SN Ia ejecta with the He companion taking into account its orbital motion and spin. It is found that only 2%--5% of the initial companion mass are stripped off from the outer layers of He companions due to the SN impact. The dependence of the unbound mass (or the kick velocity) on the orbital separation can be fitted in good approximation by a power law for a given companion model. After the SN impact, the outer layers of a He donor star are significantly enriched with heavy elements from the low-expansion-velocity tail of SN Ia ejecta. The total mass of accumulated SN-ejecta material on the companion surface reaches about > 10e-3 M_sun for different companion models. This enrichment with heavy elements provides a potentia...

We study the gravitationally confined detonation (GCD) model of Type Ia supernovae through the detonation phase and into homologous expansion. In the GCD model, a detonation is triggered by the surface flow due to single point, off-center flame ignition in carbon-oxygen white dwarfs. The simulations are unique in terms of the degree to which non-idealized physics is used to treat the reactive flow, including weak reaction rates and a time dependent treatment of material in nuclear statistical equilibrium (NSE). Careful attention is paid to accurately calculating the final composition of material which is burned to NSE and frozen out in the rapid expansion following the passage of a detonation wave over the high density core of the white dwarf; and an efficient method for nucleosynthesis post-processing is developed which obviates the need for costly network calculations along tracer particle thermodynamic trajectories. Observational diagnostics are presented for the explosionmodels, including abundance strat...

The effect of initial concentration on the explosion behavior of a stoichiometric CH4/O2/N2 mixture under air-combustion conditions was studied. Two mathematical models were used with the aim at simulating the gas explosion in the middle scale explosion vessel, and the associated effects of the temperature for different gas/air concentrations. Peak pressure, maximum rate of pressure rise and laminar burning velocity were measured from pressure time records of explosions occurring in a 1 m3 closed cylindrical vessel. The results of the models were validated considering a set of data (pressure time histories and root mean square velocity). The obtained results are relevant to the practice of gas explosion testing and the interpretation of test results and, they should be taken as the input data for CFD simulation to improve the conditions for standard tests.

The dynamics of the explosive burning process is highly sensitive to the flame speed model in numerical simulations of type Ia supernovae. Based upon the hypothesis that the effective flame speed is determined by the unresolved turbulent velocity fluctuations, we employ a new subgrid scale model which includes a localised treatment of the energy transfer through the turbulence cascade in combination with semi-statistical closures for the dissipation and non-local transport of turbulence energy. In addition, subgrid scale buoyancy effects are included. In the limit of negligible energy transfer and transport, the dynamical model reduces to the Sharp-Wheeler relation. According to our findings, the Sharp-Wheeler relation is insuffcient to account for the complicated turbulent dynamics of flames in thermonuclear supernovae. The application of a co-moving grid technique enables us to achieve very high spatial resolution in the burning region. Turbulence is produced mostly at the flame surface and in the interior ...

We present extensive optical observations of a Type IIn supernova (SN) 2010jl for the first 1.5 years after the discovery. The UBVRI light curves demonstrated an interesting two-stage evolution during the nebular phase, which almost flatten out after about 90 days from the optical maximum. SN 2010jl has one of the highest intrinsic H_alpha luminosity ever recorded for a SN IIn, especially at late phase, suggesting a strong interaction of SN ejecta with the dense circumstellar material (CSM) ejected by the progenitor. This is also indicated by the remarkably strong Balmer lines persisting in the optical spectra. One interesting spectral evolution about SN 2010jl is the appearance of asymmetry of the Balmer lines. These lines can be well decomposed into a narrow component and an intermediate-width component. The intermediate-width component showed a steady increase in both strength and blueshift with time until t ~ 400 days after maximum, but it became less blueshifted at t ~ 500 days when the line profile appe...

In this paper, a general formula of the symmetry energy for many-body interaction is proposed and the commonly used two-body interaction symmetry energy is recovered. Within Landau's theory (Lt), we generalize two equations of state (EoS) CCSδ3 and CCSδ5 to asymmetric nuclear matter. We assume that the density and density difference between protons and neutrons divided by their sum are order parameters. We use different EoS to study neutron stars by solving the TOV equations. We demonstrate that different EoS give different mass and radius relation for neutron stars even when they have exactly the same ground state (gs) properties (E/A, ρ0, K, S, L and Ksym). Furthermore, for one EoS we change Ksym and fix all the other gs parameters. We find that for some Ksym the EoS becomes unstable at high density even for neutron matter. This suggests that a neutron star (NS) can exist below and above the instability region but in different states: a quark gluon plasma (QGP) at high density and baryonic matter at low density. If the star's central density is in the instability region, then we associate these conditions to the occurrence of supernovae (SN).

We compare two-dimensional model results with measurements for the thermal, chemical, and mechanical behavior in a thermal explosion experiment. Confined high explosives (HEs) are heated at a rate of 1°C/h until an explosion is observed. The heating, ignition, and deflagration phases are modeled using an Arbitrarily Lagrangian-Eulerian code (ALE3D) that can handle a wide range of time scales that vary from a structural to a dynamic hydrotime scale. During the preignition phase, quasistatic mechanics and diffusive thermal transfer from a heat source to the HE are coupled with the finite chemical reactions that include both endothermic and exothermic processes. Once the HE ignites, a hydrodynamic calculation is performed as a burn front propagates through the HE. Two cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine-based explosives, C-4 and PBXN-109, are considered, whose chemical-thermal-mechanical models are constructed based on measurements of thermal and mechanical properties along with small scale thermal explosion measurements. The simulated dynamic response of HE confinement during the explosive phase is compared to measurements in larger scale thermal explosion tests. The explosion temperatures for both HEs are predicted to within 5°C. Calculated and measured wall strains provide an indication of vessel pressurization during the heating phase and violence during the explosive phase. During the heating phase, simulated wall strains provide only an approximate representation of measured values indicating a better numerical treatment is needed to provide accurate results. The results also show that more numerical accuracy is needed for vessels with lesser confinement strength. For PBXN-109, the measured wall strains during the explosion are well represented by the ALE3D calculations.

We compare two-dimensional model results with measurements for the thermal, chemical and mechanical behavior in a thermal explosion experiment. Confined high explosives are heated at a rate of 1 C per hour until an explosion is observed. The heating, ignition, and deflagration phases are modeled using an Arbitrarily Lagrangian-Eulerian code (ALE3D) that can handle a wide range of time scales that vary from a structural to a dynamic hydro time scale. During the pre-ignition phase, quasi-static mechanics and diffusive thermal transfer from a heat source to the HE are coupled with the finite chemical reactions that include both endothermic and exothermic processes. Once the HE ignites, a hydro dynamic calculation is performed as a burn front propagates through the HE. Two RDX-based explosives, C-4 and PBXN-109, are considered, whose chemical-thermal-mechanical models are constructed based on measurements of thermal and mechanical properties along with small scale thermal explosion measurements. The simulated dynamic response of HE confinement during the explosive phase is compared to measurements in large scale thermal explosion tests. The explosion temperatures for both HE's are predicted to within 5 C. Calculated and measured wall strains provide an indication of vessel pressurization during the heating phase and violence during the explosive phase. During the heating phase, simulated wall strains provide only an approximate representation of measured values indicating a better numerical treatment is needed to provide accurate results. The results also show that more numerical accuracy is needed for vessels with lesser confinement strength. For PBXN-109, the measured wall strains during the explosion are well represented by the ALE3D calculations.

During the first few days after explosion, Type II supernovae (SNe) are dominated by relatively simple physics. Theoretical predictions regarding early-time SN light curves in the ultraviolet (UV) and optical bands are thus quite robust. We present, for the first time, a sample of $57$ $R$-band Type II SN light curves that are well monitored during their rise, having $>5$ detections during the first 10 days after discovery, and a well-constrained time of explosion to within $1-3$ days. We show that the energy per unit mass ($E/M$) can be deduced to roughly a factor of five by comparing early-time optical data to the model of Rabinak & Waxman (2011), while the progenitor radius cannot be determined based on $R$-band data alone. We find that Type II SN explosion energies span a range of $E/M=(0.2-20)\\times 10^{51} \\; \\rm{erg/(10 M}_\\odot$), and have a mean energy per unit mass of $\\left\\langle E/M \\right\\rangle = 0.85\\times 10^{51} \\; \\rm{erg/(10 M}_\\odot$), corrected for Malmquist bias. Assuming a small sp...

We consider a newly-born millisecond magnetar, focusing on its interaction with the dense stellar plasma in which it is initially embedded. We argue that the confining pressure and inertia of the surrounding plasma acts to collimate the magnetar's Poynting-flux-dominated outflow into tightly beamed jets and increases its magnetic luminosity. We propose this process as an essential ingredient in the magnetar model for gamma-ray burst and asymmetric supernova central engines. We introduce the ``pulsar-in-a-cavity'' as an important model problem representing a magnetized rotating neutron star inside a collapsing star. We describe its essential properties and derive simple estimates for the evolution of the magnetic field and the resulting spin-down power. We find that the infalling stellar mantle confines the magnetosphere, enabling a gradual build-up of the toroidal magnetic field due to continuous twisting. The growing magnetic pressure eventually becomes dominant, resulting in a magnetically-driven explosion....

We present the results of an ongoing project to use the X-ray observations of Type Ia Supernova Remnants to constrain the physical processes involved in Type Ia Supernovaexplosions. We use the Tycho Supernova Remnant (SN 1572) as a benchmark case, comparing its observed spectrum with models for the X-ray emission from the shocked ejecta generated from different kinds of Type Ia explosions. Both the integrated spectrum of Tycho and the spatial distribution of the Fe and Si emission in the remnant are well reproduced by delayed detonation models with stratified ejecta. All the other Type Ia explosionmodels fail, including well-mixed deflagrations calculated in three dimensions.

We study a type Ia supernovaexplosion using three-dimensional numerical simulations based on reactive fluid dynamics. We consider a delayed-detonation model that assumes a deflagration-to-detonation transition. In contrast to the pure deflagration model, the delayed-detonation model releases enough energy to account for a healthy explosion, and does not leave carbon, oxygen, and intermediate-mass elements in central parts of a white dwarf. This removes the key disagreement between simulations and observations, and makes a delayed detonation the mostly likely mechanism for type Ia supernovae.

What sort of supernova (SN) gave rise to the Crab nebula? While there are several indications that the Crab arose from a sub-energetic explosion of an 8-10 M⊙ progenitor star, this would appear to conflict with the high luminosity indicated by historical observations. This paper shows that several well-known observed properties of the Crab and SN 1054 are well matched by a particular breed of Type IIn SN. The Crab's properties are best suited to the Type IIn-P subclass (Type IIn spectra with plateau light curves), exemplified by SNe 1994W, 2009kn and 2011ht. These events probably arise from relatively low energy (1050 erg) explosions with low 56Ni yield that may result from electron-capture SN (ecSN) explosions, but their high visual-wavelength luminosity and Type IIn spectra are dominated by shock interaction with dense circumstellar material (CSM) rather than the usual recombination photosphere. In this interaction, a large fraction of the 1050 erg of the total kinetic energy can be converted to visual-wavelength luminosity. After about 120 d, nearly all of the mass outside the neutron star in the CSM and ejecta ends up in a slowly expanding (1000-1500 km s-1) thin dense shell, which is then accelerated and fragmented by the growing pulsar wind nebula in the subsequent 1000 yr, producing the complex network of filaments seen today. There is no need to invoke the extended, invisible fast SN envelope hypothesized to reside outside the Crab. As differentiated from a normal SN II-P, SNe IIn-P provide a much better explanation for several observed features of the Crab: (1) no blast wave outside the Crab nebula filaments, (2) no rapidly expanding SN envelope outside the filaments, (3) a total mass of ˜5 M⊙ swept up in a thin slow shell, (4) a low kinetic energy of the Crab at least an order of magnitude below a normal core-collapse SN, (5) a high peak luminosity (-18 mag) despite the low kinetic energy, (6) chemical abundances consistent with an 8-10 M⊙ star and

A model of the supernovaexplosion is discussed. The method of neutrino transport is discussed, since the explosive mechanism depends on neutrino heating of the material behind the accretion shock. The core region of these exploding stars becomes unstable to convective motions during the supernova evolution. Convective mixing allows more neutrinos to escape from under the neutrinosphere, and thus increases the amount of heating by neutrinos. An approximate method of incorporating convection is described, and some results of including convection in a computer model is presented. Another phenomena is seen in computer simulations of supernova, oscillations in the neutrino luminosity and mass accretion rate onto the protoneutron star. The last topic discussed in this thesis describes the attempt to understand this oscillation by perturbation of the steady state solution to equations approximating the complex physical processes occurring in the late time supernova. 42 refs., 31 figs.

Mergers of carbon–oxygen (CO) white dwarfs (WDs) are considered to be one of the potential progenitors of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Recent hydrodynamical simulations showed that the less massive (secondary) WD violently accretes onto the more massive (primary) one, carbon detonation occurs, the detonation wave propagates through the primary, and the primary finally explodes as a sub-Chandrasekhar mass SN Ia. Such an explosion mechanism is called the violent merger scenario. Based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of merging CO WDs, we derived a critical mass ratio (q{sub cr}) leading to the violent merger scenario that is more stringent than previous results. We conclude that this difference mainly comes from the differences in the initial condition of whether or not the WDs are synchronously spinning. Using our new results, we estimated the brightness distribution of SNe Ia in the violent merger scenario and compared it with previous studies. We found that our new q{sub cr} does not significantly affect the brightness distribution. We present the direct outcome immediately following CO WD mergers for various primary masses and mass ratios. We also discussed the final fate of the central system of the bipolar planetary nebula Henize 2-428, which was recently suggested to be a double CO WD system whose total mass exceeds the Chandrasekhar-limiting mass, merging within the Hubble time. Even considering the uncertainties in the proposed binary parameters, we concluded that the final fate of this system is almost certainly a sub-Chandrasekhar mass SN Ia in the violent merger scenario.

years after this cataclysmic event, a European/University of Hawaii team of astronomers has now peered deep into the glowing remnants of SN 1993J using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the giant Keck telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. They have discovered a massive star exactly at the position of the supernova that is the long sought companion to the supernova progenitor. This is the first supernova companion star ever to be detected and it represents a triumph for the theoretical models. In addition, this observation allows a detailed investigation of the stellar physics leading to supernovaexplosions. It is now clear that during the last 250 years before the explosion 10 solar masses of gas were torn violently from the red supergiant by its partner. By observing the companion closely in the coming years it may even be possible to detect a neutron star or black hole emerge from the remnants of the explosion ‘in real time’. Given the paucity of observations of supernova progenitor systems this result, published in Nature on 8 January 2004, is likely to “be crucial to understanding how very massive stars explode and why we see such peculiar supernovae” according to first author Justyn R. Maund from the University of Cambridge, UK. Stephen Smartt, also from the University of Cambridge, says “Supernovaexplosions are at the heart of our understanding of the evolution of galaxies and the formation of chemical elements in the Universe. It is essential that we know what type of stars produce them.” For the last ten years astronomers have believed that they could understand the very peculiar behaviour of 1993J by invoking the existence of a binary companion star and now this picture has proved correct. According to Rolf Kudritzki from the University of Hawaii “The combination of the outstanding spatial resolution of Hubble and the huge light gathering power of the Keck 10m telescope in Hawaii has made this fantastic

The observation by the CANGAROO experiment of TeV emission from SN 1006, in conjunction with several instances of non-thermal X-ray emission from supernova remnants, has led to inferences of super-TeV electrons in these extended sources. While this is sufficient to propel the theoretical community in their modelling of particle acceleration and associated radiation, the anticipated emergence in the next decade of a number of new experiments probing the TeV and sub-TeV bands provides further substantial motivation for modellers. In particular, the quest for obtaining unambiguous gamma-ray signatures of cosmic ray ion acceleration defines a ``Holy Grail'' for observers and theorists alike. This review summarizes theoretical developments in the prediction of MeV-TeV gamma-rays from supernova remnants over the last five years, focusing on how global properties of models can impact, and be impacted by, hard gamma-ray observational programs, thereby probing the supernova remnant environment. Properties of central c...

We present new two-dimensional (2D) axisymmetric neutrino radiation/hydrodynamic models of core-collapse supernova (CCSN) cores. We use the CASTRO code, which incorporates truly multi-dimensional, multi-group, flux-limited diffusion (MGFLD) neutrino transport, including all relevant $\\mathcal{O}(v/c)$ terms. Our main motivation for carrying out this study is to compare with recent 2D models produced by other groups who have obtained explosions for some progenitor stars and with recent 2D VULCAN results that did not incorporate $\\mathcal{O}(v/c)$ terms. We follow the evolution of 12, 15, 20, and 25 solar-mass progenitors to approximately 600 milliseconds after bounce and do not obtain an explosion in any of these models. Though the reason for the qualitative disagreement among the groups engaged in CCSN modeling remains unclear, we speculate that the simplifying ``ray-by-ray' approach employed by all other groups may be compromising their results. We show that ``ray-by-ray' calculations greatly exaggerate the ...

We summarize our current understanding of the neutrino flavor conversions inside a core collapse supernova, clarifying the important role played by the 'collective effects' in determining flavor conversion probabilities. The potentially observable {nu}{sub e} and {nu}-bar {sub e} spectra may help us identify the neutrino mixing scenario, distinguish between primary flux models, and learn more about the supernovaexplosion.

We describe a 3D approach to modeling multi-phase blast explosive, which is primarily condensed explosive by volume with inert embedded particles. These embedded particles are uniform in size and placed on the array of a regular lattice. The asymptotic theory of detonation shock dynamics governs the detonation shock propagation in the explosive. Mesoscale hydrodynamic simulations are used to show how the particles are compressed, deformed, and accelerated by the high-speed detonation products flow.

A five-field simulation code JASMINE-pro has been developed at JAERI for the calculation of the propagation and explosion phase of steam explosions. The basic equations and the constitutive relationships specifically utilized in the propagation models in the code are introduced in this paper. Some calculations simulating the KROTOS 1D and 2D steam explosion experiments are also stated in the paper to show the present capability of the code. (author)

The recent observation of {sup 44}Ti radioactivity in the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory allows the determination of the absolute amount of {sup 44}Ti. This provides a test for current supernovamodels. The main uncertainty is the lifetime of {sup 44}Ti. We report a new measurement of the lifetime of {sup 44}Ti applying a novel technique. A mixed radioactive beam containing {sup 44}Ti as well as {sup 22}Na was implanted and the resulting {gamma}-activity was measured. This allowed the determination of the lifetime of {sup 44}Ti relative to the lifetime of {sup 22}Na, {tau} = (87.0 {+-} 1.9) y. With this lifetime, the {sup 44}Ti abundance agrees with theoretical predictions within the remaining observational uncertainties. (orig.)

We present bolometric light curves of Type II-plateau supernovae (SNe II-P) obtained using a newly developed, one-dimensional Lagrangian hydrodynamic code with flux-limited radiation diffusion. Using our code we calculate the bolometric light curve and photospheric velocities of SN1999em obtaining a remarkably good agreement with observations despite the simplifications used in our calculation. The physical parameters used in our calculation are E=1.25 foe, M= 19 M_\\odot, R= 800 R_\\odot and M_{Ni}=0.056 M_\\odot. We find that an extensive mixing of 56Ni is needed in order to reproduce a plateau as flat as that shown by the observations. We also study the possibility to fit the observations with lower values of the initial mass consistently with upper limits that have been inferred from pre-supernova imaging of SN1999em in connection with stellar evolution models. We cannot find a set of physical parameters that reproduce well the observations for models with pre-supernova mass of \\leq 12 M_\\odot, although mode...

We investigate the dependence of the observed properties of Type Ia supernovae on the mass MWD of the white dwarf star in the single degenerate model. We find that, within the gravitationally confined detonation (GCD) model and the treatment we use for buoyancy-driven turbulent nuclear burning, the outcome of the explosion is highly sensitive to MWD. Specifically, we find that the nuclear energy released during the deflagration phase, and therefore the amount by which the white dwarf expands prior to initiation of the detonation wave, increase rapidly as MWD increases. Consequently, the amount of radioactive nickel produced, and thus the peak luminosity of the supernova, decrease rapidly as MWD increases. We find that, as a result, ignition at a single point (which is favored by simulations of the prior smoldering phase) and a variation in MWD of as little as ~ 2% can produce the observed range of peak luminosities of normal Type Ia supernovae.

The nature of carbon burning flames in Type Ia supernovae is explored as they interact with Kolmogorov turbulence. One-dimensional calculations using the Linear Eddy Model of Kerstein (1991) elucidate three regimes of turbulent burning. In the simplest case, large scale turbulence folds and deforms thin laminar flamelets to produce a flame brush with a total burning rate given approximately by the speed of turbulent fluctuations on the integral scale, U_L. This is the regime where the supernovaexplosion begins and where most of its pre-detonation burning occurs. As the density declines, turbulence starts to tear the individual flamelets, making broader structures that move faster. For a brief time, these turbulent flamelets are still narrow compared to their spacing and the concept of a flame brush moving with an overall speed of U_L remains valid. However, the typical width of the individual flamelets, which is given by the condition that their turnover time equals their burning time, continues to increase ...

This thesis presents a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code (EXSIM94) for modelling and simulation of gas explosions in complex geometries. It gives the theory and validates the following sub-models : (1) the flow resistance and turbulence generation model for densely packed regions, (2) the flow resistance and turbulence generation model for single objects, and (3) the quasi-laminar combustion model. It is found that a simple model for flow resistance and turbulence generation in densely packed beds is able to reproduce the medium and large scale MERGE explosion experiments of the Commission of European Communities (CEC) within a band of factor 2. The model for a single representation is found to predict explosion pressure in better agreement with the experiments with a modified k-{epsilon} model. This modification also gives a slightly improved grid independence for realistic gas explosion approaches. One laminar model is found unsuitable for gas explosionmodelling because of strong grid dependence. Another laminar model is found to be relatively grid independent and to work well in harmony with the turbulent combustion model. The code is validated against 40 realistic gas explosion experiments. It is relatively grid independent in predicting explosion pressure in different offshore geometries. It can predict the influence of ignition point location, vent arrangements, different geometries, scaling effects and gas reactivity. The validation study concludes with statistical and uncertainty analyses of the code performance. 98 refs., 96 figs, 12 tabs.

High-density ceramics with high-strength microstructure were achieved by explosive compaction. Well-characterized Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/, AlN, and boron powders were explosively compacted in both cylindrical and flat plate geometries. In cylindrical geometries compacted densities between 91 and 98 percent of theoretical were achieved. Microhardness measurements indicated that the strength and integrity of the microstructure were comparable to conventionally fabricated ceramics, even though all samples with densities greater than 90 percent theoretical contained macrocracks. Fractured surfaces evaluated by SEM showed evidence of boundary melting. Equation of state data for porous Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ were used to calculate the irreversible work done on the sample as a function of pressure. This was expressed as a percentage of the total sample which could be melted. Calculations show that very little melting can be expected in samples shocked to less than 3 GPa. Significant melting and grain boundary fusion can be expected in samples shocked to pressures greater than 8 GPa. Hydrodynamic modeling of right cylinder compaction with detonation at one end was attempted by using a two-dimensional computer code. The complications of this analysis led to experiments using plane shock waves. Flat-plate compaction assemblies were designed and analyzed by 2-D hydrodynamic codes. The use of porous shock attenuators was evaluated. Experiments were performed on aluminum oxide powders in plane wave geometry. Microstructure evaluations were made as a function of location in the flat plate samples. 11 figures, 1 table.

The double-detonation explosionmodel has been considered a candidate for explaining astrophysical transients with a wide range of luminosities. In this model, a carbon-oxygen white dwarf star explodes following detonation of a surface layer of helium. One potential signature of this explosion mechanism is the presence of unburned helium in the outer ejecta, left over from the surface helium layer. In this paper we present simple approximations to estimate the optical depths of important He I lines in the ejecta of double-detonation models. We use these approximations to compute synthetic spectra, including the He I lines, for double-detonation models obtained from hydrodynamical explosion simulations. Specifically, we focus on photospheric-phase predictions for the near-infrared 10830 \\AA~and 2 $\\mu$m lines of He I. We first consider a double detonation model with a luminosity corresponding roughly to normal SNe Ia. This model has a post-explosion unburned He mass of 0.03 $M_{\\odot}$ and our calculations sug...

Neutrinos play a crucial role in the collapse and explosion of massive stars, governing the infall dynamics of the stellar core, triggering and fueling the explosion and driving the cooling and deleptonization of the newly formed neutron star. Due to their role neutrinos carry information from the heart of the explosion and, due to their weakly interacting nature, offer the only direct probe of the dynamics and thermodynamics at the center of a supernova. In this paper, we review the present status of modelling the neutrino physics and signal formation in collapsing and exploding stars. We assess the capability of current and planned large underground neutrino detectors to yield faithful information of the time and flavor dependent neutrino signal from a future Galactic supernova. We show how the observable neutrino burst would provide a benchmark for fundamental supernova physics with unprecedented richness of detail. Exploiting the treasure of the measured neutrino events requires a careful discrimination o...

We study a Type Ia supernovaexplosion using large-scale three-dimensional numerical simulations based on reactive fluid dynamics with a simplified mechanism for nuclear reactions and energy release. The initial deflagration stage of the explosion involves a subsonic turbulent thermonuclear flame propagating in the gravitational field of an expanding white dwarf. The deflagration produces an inhomogeneous mixture of unburned carbon and oxygen with intermediate-mass and iron-group elements in central parts of the star. During the subsequent detonation stage, a supersonic detonation wave propagates through the material unburned by the deflagration. The total energy released in this delayed-detonation process, (1.3-1.6)x10^51 ergs, is consistent with a typical range of kinetic energies obtained from observations. In contrast to the deflagration model that releases only about 0.6x10^51 ergs, the delayed-detonation model does not leave carbon, oxygen, and intermediate-mass elements in central parts of a white dwar...

We argue that the small fraction of neutrinos that undergo direction-changing scattering outside of the neutrinosphere could have significant influence on neutrino flavor transformation in core-collapse supernova environments. We show that the standard treatment for collective neutrino flavor transformation is adequate at late times, but could be inadequate in the crucial shock revival/explosion epoch of core-collapse supernovae, where the potentials that govern neutrino flavor evolution are affected by the scattered neutrinos. Taking account of this effect, and the way it couples to entropy and composition, will require a new paradigm in supernovamodeling.

In the SD scenario of SNe Ia the companion survives the SN explosion and thus should be visible near the center of the SN remnant and may show some unusual features. A promising approach to test progenitor models of SNe Ia is to search for the companion in SNRs. Here we present the results of 3D hydrodynamics simulations of the interaction between the SN Ia blast wave and a MS companion taking into consideration its orbital motion and spin. The primary goal of this work is to investigate the rotation of surviving companions after SN Ia explosions in the WD+MS scenario. We use Eggleton's code including the optically thick accretion wind model to obtain realistic models of companions. The impact of the SN blast wave on these companions is followed in 3D hydrodynamic simulations employing the SPH code GADGET3. We find that the rotation of the companion does not significantly affect the amount of stripped mass and the kick velocity caused by the SN impact. However, in our simulations, the rotational velocity of t...

We present generalized supernova (SN) light curve (LC) models for a variety of power inputs. We provide an expression for the power input that is produced by self-similar forward and reverse shocks in SN ejecta - circumstellar matter (CSM) interaction. We find that this ejecta-CSM interaction luminosity is in agreement with results from multi-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics simulations in the optically-thin case. We develop a model for the case of an optically-thick CSM by invoking an approximation for the effects of radiative diffusion. In the context of this model, we provide predictions for the time of forward shock break-out from the optically-thick part of the CSM envelope. We also introduce a hybrid LC model that incorporates ejecta-CSM interaction plus Ni-56 and Co-56 radioactive decay input. We fit this hybrid model to the LC of the Super-Luminous Supernova (SLSN) 2006gy. We find that this model provides a better fit to the LC of this event than previously presented models. We also address the rel...

Massive stars undergo a violent death when the supply of nuclear fuel in their cores is exhausted, resulting in a catastrophic "core-collapse" supernova. Such events are usually only detected at least a few days after the star has exploded. Observations of the supernova SNLS-04D2dc with the Galaxy Evolution Explorer space telescope reveal a radiative precursor from the supernova shock before the shock reached the surface of the star and show the initial expansion of the star at the beginning of the explosion. Theoretical models of the ultraviolet light curve confirm that the progenitor was a red supergiant, as expected for this type of supernova. These observations provide a way to probe the physics of core-collapse supernovae and the internal structures of their progenitor stars.

From the spectra and light curves it is clear that SNIa are thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs. However, details of the explosion are highly under debate. Here, we present detailed models which are consistent with respect to the explosion mechanism, the optical and infrared light curves (LC), and the spectral evolution. This leaves the description of the burning front and the structure of the white dwarf as the only free parameters. The explosions are calculated using one-dimensional Lagrangian codes including nuclear networks. Subsequently, optical and IR-LCs are constructed. Detailed NLTE-spectra are computed for several instants of time using the density, chemical and luminosity structure resulting from the LCs. The general methods and critical tests are presented (sect. 2). Different models for the thermonuclear explosion are discussed including detonations deflagrations, delayed detonations, pulsating delayed detonations (PDD) and helium detonations (sect.3). Comparisons between theoretical and obs...

We present nebular-phase imaging and spectroscopy for the hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN) SN 2015bn, at redshift z = 0.1136, spanning +250-400 days after maximum light. The light curve exhibits a steepening in the decline rate from 1.4 mag (100 days)-1 to 1.7 mag (100 days)-1, suggestive of a significant decrease in the opacity. This change is accompanied by a transition from a blue continuum superposed with photospheric absorption lines to a nebular spectrum dominated by emission lines of oxygen, calcium, and magnesium. There are no obvious signatures of circumstellar interaction or large 56Ni mass. We show that the spectrum at +400 days is virtually identical to a number of energetic SNe Ic such as SN 1997dq, SN 2012au, and SN 1998bw, indicating similar core conditions and strengthening the link between “hypernovae”/long gamma-ray bursts and SLSNe. A single explosion mechanism may unify these events that span absolute magnitudes of -22 < M B < -17. Both the light curve and spectrum of SN 2015bn are consistent with an engine-driven explosion ejecting 7-30 M ⊙ of oxygen-dominated ejecta (for reasonable choices in temperature and opacity). A strong and relatively narrow O i λ7774 line, seen in a number of these energetic events but not in normal supernovae, may point to an inner shell that is the signature of a central engine.

Stellar collapse and the subsequent development of a core-collapse supernovaexplosion emit bursts of gravitational waves (GWs) that might be detected by the advanced generation of laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatories such as Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo, and LCGT. GW bursts from core-collapse supernovae encode information on the intricate multi-dimensional dynamics at work at the core of a dying massive star and may provide direct evidence for the yet uncertain mechanism driving supernovae in massive stars. Recent multi-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae exploding via the neutrino, magnetorotational, and acoustic explosion mechanisms have predicted GW signals which have distinct structure in both the time and frequency domains. Motivated by this, we describe a promising method for determining the most likely explosion mechanism underlying a hypothetical GW signal, based on Principal Component Analysis and Bayesian model selection. Using simulated Advanced LIGO noise and ass...

The evolution of massive stars of 35, 40, 60, and 85 solar masses is followed through all stages of nuclear burning to the point of Fe core collapse. Critical nuclear reaction and mass-loss rates are varied. Efficient mass loss during the Wolf-Rayet (WR) stage is likely to lead to final masses as small as 4 solar masses. For a reasonable parameterization of the mass loss, there may be convergence of all WR stars, both single and in binaries, to a narrow band of small final masses. Our representative model, a 4.25 solar-mass WR presupernova derived from a 60 solar mass star, is followed through a simulated explosion, and its explosive nucleosynthesis and light curve are determined. Its properties are similar to those observed in Type Ib supernovae. The effects of the initial mass and mass loss on the presupernova structure of small mass WR models is also explored. Important properties of the presupernova star and its explosion can only be obtained by following the complete evolution starting on the main sequence.

The evolution of massive stars of 35, 40, 60, and 85 solar masses is followed through all stages of nuclear burning to the point of Fe core collapse. Critical nuclear reaction and mass-loss rates are varied. Efficient mass loss during the Wolf-Rayet (WR) stage is likely to lead to final masses as small as 4 solar masses. For a reasonable parameterization of the mass loss, there may be convergence of all WR stars, both single and in binaries, to a narrow band of small final masses. Our representative model, a 4.25 solar-mass WR presupernova derived from a 60 solar mass star, is followed through a simulated explosion, and its explosive nucleosynthesis and light curve are determined. Its properties are similar to those observed in Type Ib supernovae. The effects of the initial mass and mass loss on the presupernova structure of small mass WR models is also explored. Important properties of the presupernova star and its explosion can only be obtained by following the complete evolution starting on the main sequence.

The nature of dark energy is a mystery to us. This paper uses the supernova data to explore the property of dark energy by some model independent methods. We first Talyor expanded the scale factor $a(t)$ to find out the deceleration parameter $q_0<0$. This result just invokes the Robertson-Walker metric. Then we discuss several different parameterizations used in the literature. We find that $\\Omega_{\\rm DE0}$ is almost less than -1 at $1\\sigma$ level. We also find that the transition redshift from deceleration phase to acceleration phase is $z_{\\rm T}\\sim 0.3$.

Modelling and analysis of underwater explosive forming process by using FEM and SPH formulation is presented in this work. The explosive forming of a steel cone is studied. The model setup includes a low carbon steel plate, plate holder, forming die as well as water and C4 explosive. The effect of multiple explosives on rate of targets deformation has been studied. Four different multi-explosivesmodels have been developed and compared to the single explosivemodel. The formability of the steel plate based on forming limit failure criteria has been investigated. Aspects such as shape of plates deformation and thickness of the plate during the forming process have been examined. The model results indicate that a multi-explosivesmodel does not always guarantee a faster rate of target deformation without central explosive. On the other hand the model results indicate that the multi-explosives setup is capable of preventing crack failure of the steel plate during the forming process which would occur if a single explosivemodel was used.

The single degenerate model is the most widely accepted progenitor model of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia),in which a carbon-oxygen white dwarf (CO WD) accretes hydrogen-rich material from a main sequence or a slightly evolved star (WD+MS) to increase its mass,and explodes when its mass approaches the Chandrasekhar mass limit.During the mass transfer phase between the two components,an optically thick wind may occur and the material lost as wind may exist as circumstellar material (CSM).Searching for the CSM around a progenitor star is helpful for discriminating different progenitor models of SNe Ia.In addition,the CSM is a source of color excess.The purpose of this paper is to study the color excess produced from the single-degenerate progenitor model with an optically thick wind,and reproduce the distribution of color excesses of SNe Ia.Meng et al.systemically carried out binary evolution calculations of the WD +MS systems for various metallicities and showed the parameters of the systems before Roche lobe overflow and at the moment of supernovaexplosion in Meng & Yang.With the results of Meng et al.,we calculate the color excesses of SNe Ia at maximum light via a simple analytic method.We reproduce the distribution of color excesses of SNe Ia by our binary population synthesis approach if the velocity of the optically thick wind is taken to be an order of magnitude of 10kin s~(-1).However,if the wind velocity is larger than 100km s~(-1),the reproduction is bad.

To ensure the safe storage and deployment of explosives it is important to understand the mechanisms that give rise to ignition and reaction growth in low speed impacts. The High Explosive Response to Mechanical Stimulus (HERMES) material model, integrated in the Lagrangian code LSDYNA, has been developed to model the progress of the reaction after such an impact. The low speed impact characteristics of an HMX based formulation have been examined using the AWE Steven Test. Axisymmetric simulations of an HMX explosive in the AWE Steven Test have been performed. A sensitivity study included the influence of friction, mesh resolution, and confinement. By comparing the experimental and calculated results, key model parameters which determine the explosive's response in this configuration have been identified. The model qualitatively predicts the point of ignition within the vehicle. Future refinements are discussed.

Type Iax supernovae are stellar explosions that are spectroscopically similar to some type Ia supernovae at the time of maximum light emission, except with lower ejecta velocities. They are also distinguished by lower luminosities. At late times, their spectroscopic properties diverge from those of other supernovae, but their composition (dominated by iron-group and intermediate-mass elements) suggests a physical connection to normal type Ia supernovae. Supernovae of type Iax are not rare; they occur at a rate between 5 and 30 per cent of the normal type Ia rate. The leading models for type Iax supernovae are thermonuclear explosions of accreting carbon-oxygen white dwarfs that do not completely unbind the star, implying that they are 'less successful' versions of normal type Ia supernovae, where complete stellar disruption is observed. Here we report the detection of the luminous, blue progenitor system of the type Iax SN 2012Z in deep pre-explosion imaging. The progenitor system's luminosity, colours, environment and similarity to the progenitor of the Galactic helium nova V445 Puppis suggest that SN 2012Z was the explosion of a white dwarf accreting material from a helium-star companion. Observations over the next few years, after SN 2012Z has faded, will either confirm this hypothesis or perhaps show that this supernova was actually the explosive death of a massive star.

Full Text Available Krakatoa exploded August 27, 1883 obliterating 5 square miles of land and leaving a crater 3.5 miles across and 200-300 meters deep. Thirty three feet high tsunami waves hit Anjer and Merak demolishing the towns and killing over 10,000 people. In Merak the wave rose to 135 feet above sea level and moved 100 ton coral blocks up on the shore.Tsunami waves swept over 300 coastal towns and villages killing 40,000 people. The sea withdrew at Bombay, India and killed one person in Sri Lanka.The tsunami was produced by a hydrovolcanic explosion and the associated shock wave and pyroclastic flows.A hydrovolcanic explosion is generated by the interaction of hot magma with ground water. It is called Surtseyan after the 1963 explosive eruption off Iceland. The water flashes to steam and expands explosively. Liquid water becoming water gas at constant volume generates a pressure of 30,000 atmospheres.The Krakatoa hydrovolcanic explosion was modeled using the full Navier-Stokes AMREulerian compressible hydrodynamic code called SAGE which includes the high pressure physics of explosions.The water in the hydrovolcanic explosion was described as liquid water heated by the magma to 1100 degree Kelvin or 19 kcal/mole. The high temperature water is an explosive with the hot liquid water going to a water gas. The BKW steady state detonation state has a peak pressure of 89 kilobars, a propagation velocity of 5900 meters/second and the water is compressed to 1.33 grams/cc.The observed Krakatoa tsunami had a period of less than 5 minutes and wavelength of less than 7 kilometers and thus rapidly decayed. The far field tsunami wave was negligible. The air shock generated by the hydrovolcanic explosion propagated around the world and coupled to the ocean resulting in the explosion being recorded on tide gauges around the world.

The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) was a multi-cycle treasury program on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) that surveyed a total area of ~0.25 deg^2 with ~900 HST orbits spread across 5 fields over 3 years. Within these survey images we discovered 65 supernovae (SN) of all types, out to z~2.5. We classify ~24 of these as Type Ia SN (SN Ia) based on host galaxy redshifts and SN photometry (supplemented by grism spectroscopy of 6 SN). Here we present a measurement of the volumetric SN Ia rate as a function of redshift, reaching for the first time beyond z=2 and putting new constraints on SN Ia progenitor models. Our highest redshift bin includes detections of SN that exploded when the universe was only ~3 Gyr old and near the peak of the cosmic star formation history. This gives the CANDELS high redshift sample unique leverage for evaluating the fraction of SN Ia that explode promptly after formation (40 Myr. However, a mild tension is apparent between ground-based low-z...

With the aim of overcoming the present energetic difficulties in getting type-II supernovaeexplosions, we present a possible scenario based on strange-matter formation. The observational expectations of this picture are discussed and the predictions of the model for SN 1987A neutrinos and remnant pulsar are examined.

The electron capture timeseale may be shorter than hydrodynamic timescale in inner iron core of core-collapse supernova according to a recent new idea. Based on the new idea, this paper carries out a numerical simulation on supernovaexplosion for the progenitor model Wsl5M⊙. The numerical result shows that the size of proto-neutron star has a significant change (decrease about 20%), which may affects the propagation of the shock wave and the final explosion energy.

We revisit the formation of PSR J0737-3039, taking into account the most recent observational constraints. We show that the most likely kick velocity and progenitor parameters depend strongly on the consideration of the full five-dimensional PDF for the magnitude and direction of the kick velocity imparted to pulsar B at birth, the mass of pulsar B's pre-supernova helium star progenitor, and the pre-supernova orbital separation, and on the adopted prior assumptions. The priors consist of the transverse systemic velocity, the age of the system, and the treatment of the unknown radial velocity. Since the latter cannot be determined from observation, we adopt a statistical approach and use theoretical radial-velocity distributions obtained from population synthesis calculations for coalescing double neutron stars. We find that the prior assumptions about the pre-supernova helium star mass affect the derived most likely parameters significantly: when the minimum helium star mass required for neutron star formatio...

HERMES (High Explosive Response to MEchanical Stimulus) was developed to fill the need for a model to describe an explosive response of the type described as BVR (Burn to Violent Response) or HEVR (High Explosive Violent Response). Characteristically this response leaves a substantial amount of explosive unconsumed, the time to reaction is long, and the peak pressure developed is low. In contrast, detonations characteristically consume all explosive present, the time to reaction is short, and peak pressures are high. However, most of the previous models to describe explosive response were models for detonation. The earliest models to describe the response of explosives to mechanical stimulus in computer simulations were applied to intentional detonation (performance) of nearly ideal explosives. In this case, an ideal explosive is one with a vanishingly small reaction zone. A detonation is supersonic with respect to the undetonated explosive (reactant). The reactant cannot respond to the pressure of the detonation before the detonation front arrives, so the precise compressibility of the reactant does not matter. Further, the mesh sizes that were practical for the computer resources then available were large with respect to the reaction zone. As a result, methods then used to model detonations, known as {beta}-burn or program burn, were not intended to resolve the structure of the reaction zone. Instead, these methods spread the detonation front over a few finite-difference zones, in the same spirit that artificial viscosity is used to spread the shock front in inert materials over a few finite-difference zones. These methods are still widely used when the structure of the reaction zone and the build-up to detonation are unimportant. Later detonation models resolved the reaction zone. These models were applied both to performance, particularly as it is affected by the size of the charge, and to situations in which the stimulus was less than that needed for reliable

HERMES (High Explosive Response to MEchanical Stimulus) was developed to fill the need for a model to describe an explosive response of the type described as BVR (Burn to Violent Response) or HEVR (High Explosive Violent Response). Characteristically this response leaves a substantial amount of explosive unconsumed, the time to reaction is long, and the peak pressure developed is low. In contrast, detonations characteristically consume all explosive present, the time to reaction is short, and peak pressures are high. However, most of the previous models to describe explosive response were models for detonation. The earliest models to describe the response of explosives to mechanical stimulus in computer simulations were applied to intentional detonation (performance) of nearly ideal explosives. In this case, an ideal explosive is one with a vanishingly small reaction zone. A detonation is supersonic with respect to the undetonated explosive (reactant). The reactant cannot respond to the pressure of the detonation before the detonation front arrives, so the precise compressibility of the reactant does not matter. Further, the mesh sizes that were practical for the computer resources then available were large with respect to the reaction zone. As a result, methods then used to model detonations, known as {beta}-burn or program burn, were not intended to resolve the structure of the reaction zone. Instead, these methods spread the detonation front over a few finite-difference zones, in the same spirit that artificial viscosity is used to spread the shock front in inert materials over a few finite-difference zones. These methods are still widely used when the structure of the reaction zone and the build-up to detonation are unimportant. Later detonation models resolved the reaction zone. These models were applied both to performance, particularly as it is affected by the size of the charge, and to situations in which the stimulus was less than that needed for reliable

We describe a mechanism by which a failed deflagration of a Chandrasekhar-mass carbon-oxygen white dwarf can turn into a successful thermonuclear supernovaexplosion, without invoking an ad hoc high-density deflagration-detonation transition. Following a pulsating phase, an accretion shock develops above a core of 1 M_sun composed of carbon and oxygen, inducing a converging detonation. A three-dimensional simulation of the explosion produced a kinetic energy of 1.05E51 ergs and 0.70 M_sun of ...

We describe a mechanism by which a failed deflagration of a Chandrasekhar-mass carbon-oxygen white dwarf can turn into a successful thermonuclear supernovaexplosion, without invoking an ad hoc high-density deflagration-detonation transition. Following a pulsating phase, an accretion shock develops above a core of 1 M_sun composed of carbon and oxygen, inducing a converging detonation. A three-dimensional simulation of the explosion produced a kinetic energy of 1.05E51 ergs and 0.70 M_sun of 56Ni, ejecting scarcely 0.01 M_sun of C-O moving at low velocities. The mechanism works under quite general conditions and is flexible enough to account for the diversity of normal Type Ia supernovae. In given conditions the detonation might not occur, which would reflect in peculiar signatures in the gamma and UV-wavelengths

We show that the X-ray line flux of the Mn Kalpha line at 5.9 keV from the decay of 55Fe is a promising diagnostic to distinguish between Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosionmodels. Using radiation transport calculations, we compute the line flux for two 3D explosionmodels: a near-Chandrasekhar mass delayed detonation and a violent merger of two white dwarfs. Both models are based on solar metallicity zero-age main sequence progenitors. Due to explosive nuclear burning at higher density, the delayed-detonation model synthesises 3.5 times more radioactive 55Fe than the merger model. As a result, we find that the peak Mn Kalpha line flux of the delayed-detonation model exceeds that of the merger model by a factor of 4.5. Since in both models the 5.9 keV X-ray flux peaks five to six years after the explosion, a single measurement of the X-ray line emission at this time can place a constraint on the explosion physics that is complementary to those derived from earlier phase optical spectra or light curves. We pe...

Observations of the explosions of the population III stars have the potential to teach us much about the formation and evolution of these zero metallicity objects. But to reach this potential, we must tie the observed emission to and explosionmodel. This requires accurate light-curve/spectral calculations. Here we discuss many of the pitfalls and problems involved in such calculations, presenting some preliminary results from radiation-hydrodynamics calculations.

Observational evidences point to a common explosion mechanism of Type Ia supernovae based on a delayed detonation of a white dwarf. Although several scenarios have been proposed and explored by means of one, two, and three-dimensional simulations, the key point still is the understanding of the conditions under which a stable detonation can form in a destabilized white dwarf. One of the possibilities that have been invoked is that an inefficient deflagration leads to the pulsation of a Chandr...

We present results for a suite of fourteen three-dimensional, high resolution hydrodynamical simulations of delayed-detonation modelsof Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosions. This model suite comprises the first set of three-dimensional SN Ia simulations with detailed isotopic yield information. As such, it may serve as a database for Chandrasekhar-mass delayed-detonation model nucleosynthetic yields and for deriving synthetic observables such as spectra and light curves. We employ a physically motivated, stochastic model based on turbulent velocity fluctuations and fuel density to calculate in situ the deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) probabilities. To obtain different strengths of the deflagration phase and thereby different degrees of pre-expansion, we have chosen a sequence of initial models with 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 40, 100, 150, 200, 300, and 1600 (two different realizations) ignition kernels in a hydrostatic white dwarf with central density of 2.9 x 10^9 gcc, plus in addition one high central den...

This Resource Letter provides a guide to the literature on the observations of supernovae and the theory of their explosion mechanisms. Journal articles and books are cited for the following topics: observations of the spectra, spectropolarimetry, and light curves of supernovae of various types, theory of thermonuclear explosions, core collapse, and radioactive decay, applications to cosmology, and possible connections to gamma-ray bursts.

The hot Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM) in clusters of galaxies is a very large repository of metals produced by supernovae. We aim to accurately measure the abundances in the ICM of many clusters and compare these data with metal yields produced by supernovae. Using the data archive of the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, we compile a sample of 22 clusters. We fit spectra extracted from the core regions and determine the abundances of silicon, sulfur, argon, alcium, iron, and nickel. The abundances from the spectral fits are subsequently fitted to supernova yields determined from several supernova type Ia and core-collapse supernovamodels. We find that the argon and calcium abundances cannot be fitted with currently favoured supernova type Ia models. We obtain a major improvement of the fit, when we use an empirically modified delayed-detonation model that is calibrated on the Tycho supernova remnant. The two modified parameters are the density where the sound wave in the supernova turns into a shock and the ratio ...

In this review, the effect of flavor oscillations on the neutrinos released during supernovaexplosion after core collapse is described. In some scenarios there are large enhancement of the number of events compared to the no oscillation case. Various other features associated with supernova neutrinos are also discussed.

We present non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE) time-dependent radiative-transfer simulations of supernova (SN) IIb/Ib/Ic spectra and light curves, based on ∼1051 erg pistondriven ejecta, with and without 56Ni, produced from single and binary Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars evolved at solar and sub-solar

We briefly summarize recent efforts in Garching for modeling stellar core collapse and post-bounce evolution in one and two dimensions. The transport of neutrinos of all flavors is treated by iteratively solving the coupled system of frequency-dependent moment equations together with a model Boltzmann equation which provides the closure. A variety of progenitor stars, different nuclear equations of state, stellar rotation, and global asymmetries due to large-mode hydrodynamic instabilities have been investigated to ascertain the road to finally successful, convectively supported neutrino-driven explosions.

For decades, the study of stellar explosions -- supernovae -- have focused almost exclusively on the strong optical emission that dominates the bolometric luminosity in the days following the ultimate demise of the star. Yet many of the leading breakthroughs in our understanding of stellar death have been enabled by obtaining data at other wavelengths. For example, I have shown that 1% of all supernovae give rise to powerful relativistic jets, representing the biggest bangs in the Universe since the Big Bang. My recent serendipitous X-ray discovery of a supernova in the act of exploding (“in flagrante delicto”) revealed a novel technique to discover new events and provide clues on the shock physics at the heart of the explosion. With the advent of sensitive new radio telescopes, my research group combines clues from across the electromagnetic spectrum (radio to gamma-ray), leading us to a holistic study of stellar death, the physics of the explosions, and their role in fertilizing the Universe with new elements, by providing the community with cosmic autopsy reports.

Results are presented here from several two dimensional numerical calculations of events in Type II supernovae. A new 2-D hydrodynamics and neutrino transport code has been used to compute the effect on the supernovaexplosion mechanism of convection between the neutrinosphere and the shock. This convection is referred to as exterior convection to distinguish it from convection beneath the neutrinosphere. The model equations and initial and boundary conditions are presented along with the simulation results. The 2-D code was used to compute an exterior convective velocity to compare with the convective model of the Mayle and Wilson 1-D code. Results are presented from several runs with varying sizes of initial perturbation, as well as a case with no initial perturbation but including the effects of rotation. The M&W code does not produce an explosion using the 2-D convective velocity. Exterior convection enhances the outward propagation of the shock, but not enough to ensure a successful explosion. Analytic estimates of the growth rate of the neutron finger instability axe presented. It is shown that this instability can occur beneath the neutrinosphere of the proto-neutron star in a supernovaexplosion with a growth time of {approximately} 3 microseconds. The behavior of the high entropy bubble that forms between the shock and the neutrinosphere in one dimensional calculations of supernova is investigated. It has been speculated that this bubble is a site for {gamma}-process generation of heavy elements. Two dimensional calculations are presented of the time evolution of the hot bubble and the surrounding stellar material. Unlike one dimensional calculations, the 2D code fails to achieve high entropies in the bubble. When run in a spherically symmetric mode the 2-D code reaches entropies of {approximately} 200. When convection is allowed, the bubble reaches {approximately} 60 then the bubble begins to move upward into the cooler, denser material above it.

Results are presented here from several two dimensional numerical calculations of events in Type II supernovae. A new 2-D hydrodynamics and neutrino transport code has been used to compute the effect on the supernovaexplosion mechanism of convection between the neutrinosphere and the shock. This convection is referred to as exterior convection to distinguish it from convection beneath the neutrinosphere. The model equations and initial and boundary conditions are presented along with the simulation results. The 2-D code was used to compute an exterior convective velocity to compare with the convective model of the Mayle and Wilson 1-D code. Results are presented from several runs with varying sizes of initial perturbation, as well as a case with no initial perturbation but including the effects of rotation. The M&W code does not produce an explosion using the 2-D convective velocity. Exterior convection enhances the outward propagation of the shock, but not enough to ensure a successful explosion. Analytic estimates of the growth rate of the neutron finger instability axe presented. It is shown that this instability can occur beneath the neutrinosphere of the proto-neutron star in a supernovaexplosion with a growth time of ~ 3 microseconds. The behavior of the high entropy bubble that forms between the shock and the neutrinosphere in one dimensional calculations of supernova is investigated. It has been speculated that this bubble is a site for γ-process generation of heavy elements. Two dimensional calculations are presented of the time evolution of the hot bubble and the surrounding stellar material. Unlike one dimensional calculations, the 2D code fails to achieve high entropies in the bubble. When run in a spherically symmetric mode the 2-D code reaches entropies of ~ 200. When convection is allowed, the bubble reaches ~60 then the bubble begins to move upward into the cooler, denser material above it.

Based on the largest homogeneously reduced set of Type Ia supernova luminosity data currently available -- the Union2 sample -- we reconstruct the expansion history of the Universe in a model-independent approach. Our method tests the geometry of the Universe directly without reverting to any assumptions made on its energy content. This allows us to constrain Dark Energy models and non-standard cosmologies in a straightforward way. The applicability of the presented method is not restricted to testing cosmological models. It can be a valuable tool for pointing out systematic errors hidden in the supernova data and planning future Type Ia supernova cosmology campaigns.

We investigate core-collapse supernova (CCSN) nucleosynthesis with self-consistent, axisymmetric (2D) simulations performed using the neutrino hydrodynamics code Chimera. Computational costs have traditionally constrained the evolution of the nuclear composition within multidimensional CCSN models to, at best, a 14-species α-network capable of tracking only (α ,γ ) reactions from 4He to 60Zn. Such a simplified network limits the ability to accurately evolve detailed composition and neutronization or calculate the nuclear energy generation rate. Lagrangian tracer particles are commonly used to extend the nuclear network evolution by incorporating more realistic networks into post-processing nucleosynthesis calculations. However, limitations such as poor spatial resolution of the tracer particles inconsistent thermodynamic evolution, including misestimation of expansion timescales and uncertain determination of the multidimensional mass cut at the end of the simulation impose uncertainties inherent to this approach. We present a detailed analysis of the impact of such uncertainties for four self-consistent axisymmetric CCSN models initiated from solar-metallicity, nonrotating progenitors of 12, 15, 20, and 25 {M}⊙ and evolved with the smaller α-network to more than 1 s after the launch of an explosion.

Massive stars undergo a violent death when the supply of nuclear fuel in their cores is exhausted, resulting in a catastrophic `core-collapse' supernova. Such events are usually detected long after the star has exploded. Here we report the first detection of the radiative precursor from a supernova shock before it has reached the surface of a star followed by the initial expansion of the star at the beginning of the explosion. Theoretical models of the ultraviolet light curve show that the progenitor was a red supergiant, as expected for this type of supernova. These observations provide a promising and novel way to probe the physics of core-collapse supernovae and the internal structures of their progenitors.

Core-collapse supernovae are among the most energetic cosmic cataclysms. They are prodigious emitters of neutrinos and quite likely strong galactic sources of gravitational waves. Observation of both neutrinos and gravitational waves from the next galactic or near extragalactic core-collapse supernova will yield a wealth of information on the explosion mechanism, but also on the structure and angular momentum of the progenitor star, and on aspects of fundamental physics such as the equation of state of nuclear matter at high densities and low entropies. In this contribution to the proceedings of the Neutrino 2012 conference, we summarize recent progress made in the theoretical understanding and modeling of core-collapse supernovae. In this, our emphasis is on multi-dimensional processes involved in the explosion mechanism such as neutrino-driven convection and the standing accretion shock instability. As an example of how supernova neutrinos can be used to probe fundamental physics, we discuss how the rise ti...

One of the major difficulties encountered in modeling core collapse supernovae is obtaining an accurate description of the transport of neutrinos through the collapsed stellar core. The behavior of the neutrino distribution function transitions from an LTE distribution in the center of the core to a non-LTE distribution in the outer regions of the core. One method that has been recently employed in order to model the flow of neutrinos in 2-D models is the gray approximation. This approximation assumes that the neutrino distribution can be described by a function that is parameterized in terms of a neutrino temperature and a neutrino chemical potential. However, these parameters must be assumed. Furthermore, the parameters will also differ between the LTE and NLTE regions. Additionally, within the gray approximation the location at which the neutrino distribution function transitions from LTE to NLTE must be assumed. By considering a series of models where the LTE/NLTE decoupling point is varied we show that t...

The use of type Ic Super Luminous Supernovae (SLSN Ic) to examine the cosmological expansion introduces a new standard ruler with which to test theoretical models. The sample suitable for this kind of work now includes 11 SLSNe Ic, which have thus far been used solely in tests involving $\\Lambda$CDM. In this paper, we broaden the base of support for this new, important cosmic probe by using these observations to carry out a one-on-one comparison between the $R_{\\rm h}=ct$ and $\\Lambda$CDM cosmologies. We individually optimize the parameters in each cosmological model by minimizing the $\\chi^{2}$ statistic. We also carry out Monte Carlo simulations based on these current SLSN Ic measurements to estimate how large the sample would have to be in order to rule out either model at a $\\sim 99.7\\%$ confidence level. The currently available sample indicates a likelihood of $\\sim$$70-80\\%$ that the $R_{\\rm h}=ct$ Universe is the correct cosmology versus $\\sim$$20-30\\%$ for the standard model. These results are suggest...

Observational evidences point to a common explosion mechanism of Type Ia supernovae based on a delayed detonation of a white dwarf. Although several scenarios have been proposed and explored by means of one, two, and three-dimensional simulations, the key point still is the understanding of the conditions under which a stable detonation can form in a destabilized white dwarf. One of the possibilities that have been invoked is that an inefficient deflagration leads to the pulsation of a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf, followed by formation of an accretion shock around a carbon-oxygen rich core. The accretion shock confines the core and transforms kinetic energy from the collapsing halo into thermal energy of the core, until an inward moving detonation is formed. This chain of events has been termed Pulsating Reverse Detonation (PRD). In this work we explore the robustness of the detonation ignition for different PRD models characterized by the amount of mass burned during the deflagration phase, M_defl. The ev...

The first molecules detected at infrared wavelengths in the ejecta of a Type II supernova, namely SN1987A, consisted of CO and SiO. Since then, confirmation of the formation of these two species in several other supernovae a few hundred days after explosion has been obtained. However, supernova environments appear to hamper the synthesis of large, complex species due to the lack of microscopically-mixed hydrogen deep in supernova cores. Because these environments also form carbon and silicate dust, it is of importance to understand the role played by molecules in the depletion of elements and how chemical species get incorporated into dust grains. In the present paper, we review our current knowledge of the molecular component of supernova ejecta, and present new trends and results on the synthesis of molecules in these harsh, explosive events.

We present a first detailed spectrum synthesis calculation of a supernova-fallback disk composed of iron. We assume a geometrically thin disk with a radial structure described by the classical alpha-disk model. The disk is represented by concentric rings radiating as plane-parallel slabs. The vertical structure and emission spectrum of each ring is computed in a fully self-consistent manner by solving the structure equations simultaneously with the radiation transfer equations under non-LTE conditions. We describe the properties of a specific disk model and discuss various effects on the emergent UV/optical spectrum. We find that strong iron-line blanketing causes broad absorption features over the whole spectral range. Limb darkening changes the spectral distribution up to a factor of four depending on the inclination angle. Consequently, such differences also occur between a blackbody spectrum and our model. The overall spectral shape is independent of the exact chemical composition as long as iron is the d...

Luminous blue variables (LBVs) have been suggested to be the direct progenitors of supernova Types IIb and IIn, with enhanced mass loss prior to explosion. However, the mechanism of this mass loss is not yet known. Here, we investigate the qualitative behaviour of theoretical stellar wind mass loss as a function of Teff across two bi-stability jumps in blue supergiant regime and also in proximity to the Eddington limit, relevant for LBVs. To investigate the physical ingredients that play a role in the radiative acceleration we calculate blue supergiant wind models with the CMFGEN non-local thermodynamic equilibrium model atmosphere code over an effective temperature range between 30 000 and 8800 K. Although our aim is not to provide new mass-loss rates for BA supergiants, we study and confirm the existence of two bi-stability jumps in mass-loss rates predicted by Vink et al. However, they are found to occur at somewhat lower Teff (20 000 and 9000 K, respectively) than found previously, which would imply that stars may evolve towards lower Teff before strong mass loss is induced by the bi-stability jumps. When the combined effects of the second bi-stability jump and the proximity to Eddington limit are accounted for, we find a dramatic increase in the mass-loss rate by up to a factor of 30. Further investigation of both bi-stability jumps is expected to lead to a better understanding of discrepancies between empirical modelling and theoretical mass-loss rates reported in the literature, and to provide key inputs for the evolution of both normal AB supergiants and LBVs, as well as their subsequent supernova Type II explosions.

Context: Manganese is predominantly synthesised in Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosions. Owing to the entropy dependence of the Mn yield in explosive thermonuclear burning, SNe Ia involving near Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs (WDs) are predicted to produce Mn to Fe ratios significantly exceeding those of SN Ia explosions involving sub-Chandrasekhar mass primary WDs. Of all current supernovaexplosionmodels, only SN Ia models involving near-Chandrasekhar mass WDs produce [Mn/Fe] > 0.0. Aims: Using the specific yields for competing SN Ia scenarios, we aim to constrain the relative fractions of exploding near-Chandrasekhar mass to sub-Chandrasekhar mass primary WDs in the Galaxy. Methods: We extract the Mn yields from three-dimensional thermonuclear supernova simulations referring to different initial setups and progenitor channels. We then compute the chemical evolution of Mn in the Solar neighborhood, assuming SNe Ia are made up of different relative fractions of the considered explosionmodels. Results: We ...

Explosive synchronization has recently been reported in a system of adaptively coupled Kuramoto oscillators, without any conditions on the frequency or degree of the nodes. Here, we find that, in fact, the explosive phase coexists with the standard phase of the Kuramoto oscillators. We determine this by extending the mean-field theory of adaptively coupled oscillators with full coupling to the case with partial coupling of a fraction f. This analysis shows that a metastable region exists for all finite values of f > 0, and therefore explosive synchronization is expected for any perturbation of adaptively coupling added to the standard Kuramoto model. We verify this theory with GPU-accelerated simulations on very large networks (N ˜ 106) and find that, in fact, an explosive transition with hysteresis is observed for all finite couplings. By demonstrating that explosive transitions coexist with standard transitions in the limit of f → 0, we show that this behavior is far more likely to occur naturally than was previously believed.

Explosive synchronization has recently been reported in a system of adaptively coupled Kuramoto oscillators, without any conditions on the frequency or degree of the nodes. Here, we find that, in fact, the explosive phase coexists with the standard phase of the Kuramoto oscillators. We determine this by extending the mean-field theory of adaptively coupled oscillators with full coupling to the case with partial coupling of a fraction f. This analysis shows that a metastable region exists for all finite values of f > 0, and therefore explosive synchronization is expected for any perturbation of adaptively coupling added to the standard Kuramoto model. We verify this theory with GPU-accelerated simulations on very large networks (N ∼ 10{sup 6}) and find that, in fact, an explosive transition with hysteresis is observed for all finite couplings. By demonstrating that explosive transitions coexist with standard transitions in the limit of f → 0, we show that this behavior is far more likely to occur naturally than was previously believed.

Thermodynamic states encountered during combustion of Aluminum powder in Shock-Dispersed-Fuel (SDF) explosions were analyzed with the Cheetah code. Results are displayed in the Le Chatelier diagram: the locus of states of specific internal energy versus temperature. Accuracy of the results was confirmed by comparing the fuel and products curves with the heats of detonation and combustion, and species composition as measured in bomb calorimeter experiments. Results were fit with analytic functions u = f(T) suitable for specifying the thermodynamic properties required for gas-dynamic models of combustion in explosions.

We present TARDIS - an open-source code for rapid spectral modelling of supernovae (SNe). Our goal is to develop a tool that is sufficiently fast to allow exploration of the complex parameter spaces of models for SN ejecta. This can be used to analyse the growing number of high-quality SN spectra being obtained by transient surveys. The code uses Monte Carlo methods to obtain a self-consistent description of the plasma state and to compute a synthetic spectrum. It has a modular design to facilitate the implementation of a range of physical approximations that can be compared to asses both accuracy and computational expediency. This will allow users to choose a level of sophistication appropriate for their application. Here, we describe the operation of the code and make comparisons with alternative radiative transfer codes of differing levels of complexity (SYN++, PYTHON, and ARTIS). We then explore the consequence of adopting simple prescriptions for the calculation of atomic excitation, focussing on four sp...

We explore the variation in single star 15-30 $\\rm{M}_{\\odot}$, non-rotating, solar metallicity, pre-supernova MESA models due to changes in the number of isotopes in a fully-coupled nuclear reaction network and adjustments in the mass resolution. Within this two-dimensional plane we quantitatively detail the range of core masses at various stages of evolution, mass locations of the main nuclear burning shells, electron fraction profiles, mass fraction profiles, burning lifetimes, stellar lifetimes, and compactness parameter at core-collapse for models with and without mass loss. Up to carbon burning we generally find mass resolution has a larger impact on the variations than the number of isotopes, while the number of isotopes plays a more significant role in determining the span of the variations for neon, oxygen and silicon burning. Choice of mass resolution dominates the variations in the structure of the intermediate convection zone and secondary convection zone during core and shell hydrogen burning res...

We explore the variation in single-star 15-30 {M}⊙ , nonrotating, solar metallicity, pre-supernova MESA models that is due to changes in the number of isotopes in a fully coupled nuclear reaction network and adjustments in the mass resolution. Within this two-dimensional plane, we quantitatively detail the range of core masses at various stages of evolution, mass locations of the main nuclear burning shells, electron fraction profiles, mass fraction profiles, burning lifetimes, stellar lifetimes, and compactness parameter at core collapse for models with and without mass-loss. Up to carbon burning, we generally find that mass resolution has a larger impact on the variations than the number of isotopes, while the number of isotopes plays a more significant role in determining the span of the variations for neon, oxygen, and silicon burning. Choice of mass resolution dominates the variations in the structure of the intermediate convection zone and secondary convection zone during core and shell hydrogen burning, respectively, where we find that a minimum mass resolution of ≈0.01 {M}⊙ is necessary to achieve convergence in the helium core mass at the ≈5% level. On the other hand, at the onset of core collapse, we find ≈30% variations in the central electron fraction and mass locations of the main nuclear burning shells, a minimum of ≈127 isotopes is needed to attain convergence of these values at the ≈10% level.

Context. The study of Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) has lead to greatly improved insights into many fields in astrophysics, e.g. cosmology, and also into the metal enrichment of the universe. Although a theoretical explanation of the origin of these events is still lacking, there is a general consensus that SNIa are caused by the thermonuclear explosions of carbon/oxygen white dwarfs with masses near the Chandrasekhar mass. Aims: We investigate the potential contribution to the supernova Type Ia rate from the population of merging double carbon-oxygen white dwarfs. We aim to develop a model that fits the observed SNIa progenitors as well as the observed close double white dwarf population. We differentiate between two scenarios for the common envelope (CE) evolution; the α-formalism based on the energy equation and the γ-formalism that is based on the angular momentum equation. In one model we apply the α-formalism throughout. In the second model the γ-formalism is applied, unless the binary contains a compact object or the CE is triggered by a tidal instability for which the α-formalism is used. Methods: The binary population synthesis code SeBa was used to evolve binary systems from the zero-age main sequence to the formation of double white dwarfs and subsequent mergers. SeBa has been thoroughly updated since the last publication of the content of the code. Results: The limited sample of observed double white dwarfs is better represented by the simulated population using the γ-formalism for the first CE phase than the α-formalism. For both CE formalisms, we find that although the morphology of the simulated delay time distribution matches that of the observations within the errors, the normalisation and time-integrated rate per stellar mass are a factor ~7-12 lower than observed. Furthermore, the characteristics of the simulated populations of merging double carbon-oxygen white dwarfs are discussed and put in the context of alternative SNIa models for merging

In 1975, Leventhal and McCall [Nature, 255, 690-692] presented a radioactive decay model 56N i --> 56Co --> 56Fe for the post-peak luminosity decay of Type I supernovae light curves, in which the two decay rates are both accelerated by a common factor. In 1976, Rust, Leventhal and McCall [Nature, 262, 118-120] used sums of exponentials fitting to confirm the acceleration hypothesis, but their result was nevertheless rejected by the astronomical community. Here, we model Type Ia light curves with a system of ODEs (describing the nuclear decays) forced by a Ni-deposition pulse modelled by a 3-parameter Weibull pdf, with all of this occuring in the center of a pre-existing, optically thick, spherical shell which thermalizes the emitted gamma rays. Fitting this model to observed light curves routinely gives fits which account for 99.9+% of the total variance in the observed record. The accelerated decay rates are so stable, for such a long time, that they must occur in an almost unchanging environment -- not it a turbulent expanding atmosphere. The amplitude of the Ni-deposition pulse indicates that its source is the fusion of hydrogen. Carbon and oxygen could not supply the large energy/nucleon that is observed. The secondary peak in the infrared light curve can be easily modelled as a light echo from dust in the back side of the pre-existing shell, and the separation between the peaks indicates a radius of ≈15 light days for the shell. The long-term stability of the acceleration suggests that it is a kinematic effect arising because the nuclear reactions occur either on the surface of a very rapidly rotating condensed object, or in a very tight orbit around such an object, like the fusion pulse in a tokomak reactor.

The neutrino burst from a core collapse supernova can provide information about the explosion mechanism and the mechanisms of proto neutron star cooling but also about the intrinsic properties of the neutrino such as flavor oscillations. One important question is to understand to which extend can the supernova and the neutrino physics be decoupled in the observation of a single supernova. The possibility to probe the neutrino mixing angle {theta}{sub 13} and the type of mass hierarchy from the detection of supernova neutrinos with liquid argon detectors is discussed in this paper. Moreover, a quantitatively study about the possibility to constrain the supernova parameters is presented. A very massive liquid argon detector ({approx} 100 kton) is needed to perform accurate measurements of these parameters. Finally the possible detection of the diffuse supernova neutrino background in liquid argon detectors is also described.

The discovery of 150-300 M {sub ☉} stars in the Local Group and pair-instability supernova candidates at low redshifts has excited interest in this exotic explosion mechanism. Realistic light curves for pair-instability supernovae at near-solar metallicities are key to identifying and properly interpreting these events as more are found. We have modeled pair-instability supernovae of 150-500 M {sub ☉} Z ∼ 0.1-0.4 Z {sub ☉} stars. These stars lose up to 80% of their mass to strong line-driven winds and explode as bare He cores. We find that their light curves and spectra are quite different from those of Population III pair-instability explosions, which therefore cannot be used as templates for low-redshift events. Although non-zero metallicity pair-instability supernovae are generally dimmer than their Population III counterparts, in some cases they will be bright enough to be detected at the earliest epochs at which they can occur, the formation of the first galaxies at z ∼ 10-15. Others can masquerade as dim, short duration supernovae that are only visible in the local universe and that under the right conditions could be hidden in a wide variety of supernova classes. We also report for the first time that some pair-instability explosions can create black holes with masses of ∼100 M {sub ☉}.

When looking at performance of high explosives, the defects within the explosive become very important. Plastic bonded explosives, or PBXs, contain voids of air and bonder between the particles of explosive material that aid in the ignition of the explosive. These voids collapse in high pressure shock conditions, which leads to the formation of hot spots. Hot spots are localized high temperature and high pressure regions that cause significant changes in the way the explosive material detonates. Previously hot spots have been overlooked with modeling, but now scientists are realizing their importance and new modeling systems that can accurately model hot spots are underway.

Type II supernovae (SNe II) are the most common type of explosions in the Universe. There is a small and peculiar subgroup of those objects that show light curves similar to the famous SN 1987A. In this work we present an analysis of how the variation of certain physical parameters such as the mass and radius of the progenitor star, the energy of the explosion and the amount of radioactive material impact on the light curve of these objects, based on models that simulate the stellar explosions. In particular, we analyze the case of SN 2009mw, one of the few supernovae with similar characteristics to the SN 1987A.

This paper presents a simple but quite accurate numerical model for analyzing electrical explosion of copper wires in water. The numerical model solves a circuit equation coupled with one-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) equations with the help of appropriate wide-range equation of state (EOS) and electrical conductivity for copper. The MHD equations are formulated in a Lagrangian form to identify the interface between the wire and surrounding water clearly. A quotidian EOS (QEOS) that is known as the simplest form of EOS is utilized to build wide-range EOS for copper. In the QEOS, we consider the liquid-vapor phase transition, which is critical in analyzing the wire explosion system. For the electrical conductivity of copper, a semi-empirical set of equations covering from solid state to partially ionized plasma state are employed. Experimental validation has been performed with copper wires of various diameters, which are exploded by a microsecond timescale pulsed capacitive discharge. The simulation results show excellent agreements with the experimental results in terms of temporal motions of a plasma channel boundary and a shock front as well as current and voltage waveforms. It is found that the wire explodes (vaporizes) along the liquid branch of a binodal curve irrespective of wire dimension and operating voltage. After the explosion, the wire becomes a plasma state right away or after the current pause (dwell), depending on the operating conditions. It is worth noting that such a peculiar characteristic of wire explosion, i.e., current pause and restrike, is well simulated with the present numerical model. In particular, it is shown that the wire cools down along the vapor branch of the binodal curve during the current dwell, due to a significant difference of thermodynamic characteristics across the binodal curve. The influence of radiation for studying nonideal plasmas with a wire explosion technique and a physical process for shock wave formation

Detonation waves in insensitive, TATB based explosives are believed to have multi-time scale regimes. The initial burn rate of such explosives has a sub-microsecond time scale. However, significant late-time slow release in energy is believed to occur due to diffusion limited growth of carbon. In the intermediate time scale concentrations of product species likely change from being in equilibrium to being kinetic rate controlled. They use the thermo-chemical code CHEETAH linked to an ALE hydrodynamics code to model detonations. They term their model chemistry resolved kinetic flow as CHEETAH tracks the time dependent concentrations of individual species in the detonation wave and calculates EOS values based on the concentrations. A HE-validation suite of model simulations compared to experiments at ambient, hot, and cold temperatures has been developed. They present here a new rate model and comparison with experimental data.

Supernova remnants (SNRs) in Local Group galaxies offer unique insights into the origin of different types of supernovae. In order to take full advantage of these insights, one must understand the intrinsic and environmental diversity of SNRs in the context of their host galaxies. We introduce a semi-analytic model that reproduces the statistical properties of a radio continuum-selected SNR population, taking into account the detection limits of radio surveys, the range of SN kinetic energies, the measured ISM and stellar mass distribution in the host galaxy from multi-wavelength images and the current understanding of electron acceleration and field amplification in SNR shocks from first-principle kinetic simulations. Applying our model to the SNR population in M33, we reproduce the SNR radio luminosity function with a median SN rate of $\\sim 3.1 \\times 10^{-3}$ per year and an electron acceleration efficiency, $\\epsilon_{\\rm{e}} \\sim 4.2 \\times 10^{-3}$. We predict that the radio visibility times of $\\sim 7...

The in situ extraction of oil from most oil shale beds is highly dependent upon explosive fracturing and rubbling of rock in a controlled and predictable manner. Besides the rubbling requirement, it is also important that the surrounding rock remain competent to minimize fluid leakage during processing. For rubbling concepts in which the overburden is explosively lifted to provide the required void in an oil shale zone, an engineering lumped mass model has been devised to describe the motion of the overburden. The model simulates the overburden as an array of interacting lumped masses which are loaded from below with a time-dependent force to approximate the explosive load. Correlation with experimental data obtained from field blasting operations shows that this model will provide an adequate approximation of overburden behavior. The basic features of the model are described in the report along with the correlations with field data. Results from several parametric studies are also presented which were used to aid in blast design. This lumped mass model can be extended to include other parameters and has potential for the study of other related blasting situations.

Numerical studies of primordial star formation suggest that the first stars in the universe may have been very massive. Stellar models indicate that non-rotating Population III stars with initial masses of 140-260 Msun die as highly energetic pair-instability supernovae. We present new two-dimensional simulations of primordial pair-instability supernovae done with the CASTRO code. Our simulations begin at earlier times than previous multidimensional models, at the onset of core collapse, to capture any dynamical instabilities that may be seeded by collapse and explosive burning. Such instabilities could enhance explosive yields by mixing hot ash with fuel, thereby accelerating nuclear burning, and affect the spectra of the supernova by dredging up heavy elements from greater depths in the star at early times. Our grid of models includes both blue supergiants and red supergiants over the range in progenitor mass expected for these events. We find that fluid instabilities driven by oxygen and helium burning ari...

We present a new self-consistent and versatile method that derives photospheric radius and temperature variations of Type II-Plateau supernovae based on their expansion velocities and photometric measurements. We apply the method to a sample of 26 well-observed, nearby supernovae with published light curves and velocities. We simultaneously fit ∼230 velocity and ∼6800 mag measurements distributed over 21 photometric passbands spanning wavelengths from 0.19 to 2.2 μm. The light-curve differences among the Type II-Plateau supernovae are well modeled by assuming different rates of photospheric radius expansion, which we explain as different density profiles of the ejecta, and we argue that steeper density profiles result in flatter plateaus, if everything else remains unchanged. The steep luminosity decline of Type II-Linear supernovae is due to fast evolution of the photospheric temperature, which we verify with a successful fit of SN 1980K. Eliminating the need for theoretical supernova atmosphere models, we obtain self-consistent relative distances, reddenings, and nickel masses fully accounting for all internal model uncertainties and covariances. We use our global fit to estimate the time evolution of any missing band tailored specifically for each supernova, and we construct spectral energy distributions and bolometric light curves. We produce bolometric corrections for all filter combinations in our sample. We compare our model to the theoretical dilution factors and find good agreement for the B and V filters. Our results differ from the theory when the I, J, H, or K bands are included. We investigate the reddening law toward our supernovae and find reasonable agreement with standard R{sub V}∼3.1 reddening law in UBVRI bands. Results for other bands are inconclusive. We make our fitting code publicly available.

We present an extensive optical and near-infrared photometric and spectroscopic campaign of the Type IIP supernova SN 2012aw. The data set densely covers the evolution of SN 2012aw shortly after the explosion through the end of the photospheric phase, with two additional photometric observations collected during the nebular phase, to fit the radioactive tail and estimate the {sup 56}Ni mass. Also included in our analysis is the previously published Swift UV data, therefore providing a complete view of the ultraviolet-optical-infrared evolution of the photospheric phase. On the basis of our data set, we estimate all the relevant physical parameters of SN 2012aw with our radiation-hydrodynamics code: envelope mass M {sub env} ∼ 20 M {sub ☉}, progenitor radius R ∼ 3 × 10{sup 13} cm (∼430 R {sub ☉}), explosion energy E ∼ 1.5 foe, and initial {sup 56}Ni mass ∼0.06 M {sub ☉}. These mass and radius values are reasonably well supported by independent evolutionary models of the progenitor, and may suggest a progenitor mass higher than the observational limit of 16.5 ± 1.5 M {sub ☉} of the Type IIP events.

Among of the wide range of potentially interesting astrophysical sources for Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo are galactic core-collapse supernovae. Although detectable core-collapse supernovae have a low expected rate (a few per century, or less) these signals would yield a wealth of new physics in the form of many messengers. Of particular interest is the insight into the explosion mechanism driving core-collapse supernovae that can be gleaned from the reconstructed gravitational wave signal. A well-reconstructed waveform will allow us to assess the likelihood of different explosionmodels, perform model selection, and potentially map unexpected features to new physics. This talk will present a study evaluating the current performance of the reconstruction of core-collapse supernovae gravitational wave signals. We used simulated waveforms modeled after different explosion mechanisms that we first injected into fake strain data re-colored to the expected Advanced LIGO/Virgo noise curves and then reconstructed using the pipelines Coherent Waveburst 2G and BayesWave. We will discuss the impact of these results on our ability to accurately reconstruct core-collapse supernovae signals, and by extension, other potential astrophysical generators of rich, complex waveforms.

We had previously reported on a survey for radio transients, used to set an upper limit on the number of orphan gamma-ray burst (GRB) radio afterglows, and thus a lower limit on the typical GRB beaming factor. Here we report radio and optical follow-up observations of these possible transients, achieving the first full characterization of the transient radio sky. We find that only two source are likely to be real radio transients, an optically obscured radio supernova (SN) in the nearby galaxy NGC 4216, and a source not associated with a bright host galaxy, which is too radio luminous to be a GRB afterglow. We speculate that this may be a flare from a peculiar active galactic nucleus, or a burst from an unusual Galactic compact object. We place an upper limit of 65 radio transients above 6 mJy over the entire sky at the 95% confidence level. The implications are as follows. First, we derive a limit on the typical beaming of GRBs; we find f_b^{-1} >~ 60, ~5 times higher than our earlier results. Second, we imp...

In this paper we use high quality X-ray observations from XMM-Newton and Chandra to gain new insights into the explosion that originated Tycho's supernova 433 years ago. We perform a detailed comparison between the ejecta emission from the spatially integrated X-ray spectrum of the supernova remnant and current models for Type Ia supernovaexplosions. We use a grid of synthetic X-ray spectra based on hydrodynamic models of the evolution of the supernova remnant and self-consistent nonequilibrium ionization calculations for the state of the shocked plasma. We find that the fundamental properties of the X-ray emission in Tycho are well reproduced by a one-dimensional delayed detonation model with a kinetic energy of 1.2e51 erg. All the other paradigms for Type Ia explosions that we have tested fail to provide a good approximation to the observed ejecta emission, including one-dimensional deflagrations, pulsating delayed detonations and sub-Chandrasekhar explosions, as well as deflagration models calculated in t...

When a hot liquid comes into contact with a colder volatile liquid, one can obtain in some conditions an explosive vaporization, told vapour explosion, whose consequences can be important on neighbouring structures. This explosion needs the intimate mixing and the fine fragmentation between the two liquids. In a stratified vapour explosion, these two liquids are initially superposed and separated by a vapor film. A triggering of the explosion can induce a propagation of this along the film. A study of experimental results and existent models has allowed to retain the following main points: - the explosion propagation is due to a pressure wave propagating through the medium; - the mixing is due to the development of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities induced by the shear velocity between the two liquids behind the pressure wave. The presence of the vapour in the volatile liquid explains experimental propagation velocity and the velocity difference between the two fluids at the pressure wave crossing. A first model has been proposed by Brayer in 1994 in order to describe the fragmentation and the mixing of the two fluids. Results of the author do not show explosion propagation. We have therefore built a new mixing-fragmentation model based on the atomization phenomenon that develops itself during the pressure wave crossing. We have also taken into account the transient aspect of the heat transfer between fuel drops and the volatile liquid, and elaborated a model of transient heat transfer. These two models have been introduced in a multi-components, thermal, hydraulic code, MC3D. Results of calculation show a qualitative and quantitative agreement with experimental results and confirm basic options of the model. (author)

Using 3D numerical hydrodynamical simulations we show that a type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosion inside a planetary nebula (PN) can explain the observed shape of the G1.9+0.3 supernova remnant (SNR), and its X-ray morphology. The SNR G1.9+0.3 morphology can be generally described as a sphere with two small and incomplete lobes protruding on opposite sides of the SNR, termed "ears", a structure resembling many elliptical PNe. Observations show the synchrotron X-ray emission to be much stronger inside the two ears than in the rest of the SNR. We numerically show that a spherical SN Ia explosion into a circumstellar matter (CSM) with the structure of an elliptical PN with ears can explain the X-ray properties of SNR G1.9+0.3. While the ejecta has already collided with the PN shell in most of the SNR and its forward shock has been slowed down, the ejecta is still advancing inside the ears. The fast forward shock inside the ears explains the stronger X-ray emission there. SN Ia inside PNe (SNIPs) seem to comprise ...

Normal impact of high-speed armor piercing bullet on titanium-steel composite has been investigated using smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code. The objective is to understand the effects of impact during the ballistic testing of explosively welded armor plates. These plates have significant microstructural differences within the weld region, heat-affected zone and the base metal. The variances result in substantial ductility, hardness and strength differences, important criteria in determining the failure mode, specifically whether it occurs at the joint or within the virgin base metal. Several configurations of composite plates with different material combinations were modeled. The results were used to modify the heat treatment process of explosively welded plates, making them more likely to survive impact.

A typical insensitive high explosive such as LX-17 has a large carbon content. The detonation behavior of these explosives is affected by a slow coagulation of carbon atoms by diffusion and their possible transformation from one chemical bonding type to another. We have used the Brenner bond order potential to compute the melting line of diamond at high pressure and high temperature by molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations, with the goal to refine the potential for the study of the kinetics of the graphite diamond transition. The slow diffusion-controlled kinetics of carbon clusters has been examined by including a time-dependent surface correction to the Gibbs free energy of these clusters in the nonequilibrium CHEQ code. We also propose a new explosive burn model which incorporates a partial release of the heat of detonation in a fast reaction zone, followed by a diffusion-limited release of the remaining energy. Hydrodynamic applications of the new burn model to LX-17 show that computed expansion and compression results both agree closely with experimental data.

Observations of type II supernova early light, from breakout until recombination, can be used to constrain the explosion energy and progenitor properties. Currently available for this purpose are purely analytic models, which are accurate only to within an order of magnitude, and detailed numerical simulations, which are more accurate but are applied to any event separately. In this paper we derive an analytic model that is calibrated by numerical simulations. This model is much more accurate than previous analytic models, yet it is as simple to use. To derive the model we analyze simulated light curves from numerical explosion of $124$ red supergiant progenitors, calculated using the stellar evolution code MESA. We find that although the structure of the progenitors we consider varies, the resulting light curves can be described rather well based only on the explosion energy, ejecta mass and progenitor radius. Our calibrated analytic model, which is based on these three parameters, reproduces the bolometric ...

The Zeldovich-Neumann-Doering theory of ideal detonation allows one to describe adequately the detonation of charges with near-critical diameter. For smaller diameters, detonation velocity can differ significantly from an ideal value expected based on equilibrium chemical thermodynamics. This difference is quite evident when using non-ideal explosives; in certain cases, this value can be up to one third of ideal detonation velocity. Numerical simulation of these systems is a very labor-consuming process because one needs to compute the states inside the chemical reaction zone, as well as to obtain data on the equation of state of high-explosive detonation products mixture and on the velocity of chemical reaction; however, these characteristics are poorly studied today. For practical purposes, one can use the detonation shock dynamics model based on interrelation between local velocity of the front and its local curvature. This interrelation depends on both the equation of state of explosion products, and the reaction velocity; but the explicit definition of these characteristics is not needed. In this paper, experimental results are analyzed. They demonstrate interrelation between the local curvature of detonation front and the detonation velocity. Equation of detonation front shape is found. This equation allows us to predict detonation velocity and shape of detonation wave front in arbitrary geometry by integrating ordinary differential equation for the front shape with a boundary condition at the charge edge. The results confirm that the model of detonation shock dynamics can be used to describe detonation processes in non-ideal explosives.

Full Text Available Current practices for modeling the ocean floor in underwater explosion simulations call for application of an inviscid fluid with soil properties. A method for modeling the ocean floor as a Lagrangian solid, vice an Eulerian fluid, was developed in order to determine its effects on underwater explosions in shallow water using the DYSMAS solver. The Lagrangian solid bottom model utilized transmitting boundary segments, exterior nodal forces acting as constraints, and the application of prestress to minimize any distortions into the fluid domain. For simplicity, elastic materials were used in this current effort, though multiple constitutive soil models can be applied to improve the overall accuracy of the model. Even though this method is unable to account for soil cratering effects, it does however provide the distinct advantage of modeling contoured ocean floors such as dredged channels and sloped bottoms absent in Eulerian formulations. The study conducted here showed significant differences among the initial bottom reflections for the different solid bottom contours that were modeled. The most important bottom contour effect was the distortion to the gas bubble and its associated first pulse timing. In addition to its utility in bottom modeling, implementation of the non-reflecting boundary along with realistic material models can be used to drastically reduce the size of current fluid domains.

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) has unique capabilities as a supernova detector. In the event of a galactic supernova there are opportunities, with the data that SNO would collect, to constrain certain intrinsic neutrino properties significantly, to test details of the various models of supernova dynamics, and to provide prompt notification to the astronomical community through the Supernova Early Warning System (SNEWS). This paper consists of a discussion of these opportunities illustrated by some preliminary Monte Carlo results.

A supernovaexplosion marks the end of the evolution of a massive star. What remains of the exploded star is a high density neutron star or a black hole. The material which has been ejected by the supernovaexplosion will manifest itself as a supernova remnant: a hot bubble of gas expanding in the

We show that the X-ray line flux of the Mn Kα line at 5.9 keV from the decay of 55Fe is a promising diagnostic to distinguish between Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosionmodels. Using radiation transport calculations, we compute the line flux for two three-dimensional explosionmodels: a near-Chandrasekhar mass delayed detonation and a violent merger of two (1.1 and 0.9 M⊙) white dwarfs. Both models are based on solar metallicity zero-age main-sequence progenitors. Due to explosive nuclear burning at higher density, the delayed-detonation model synthesizes ˜3.5 times more radioactive 55Fe than the merger model. As a result, we find that the peak Mn Kα line flux of the delayed-detonation model exceeds that of the merger model by a factor of ˜4.5. Since in both models the 5.9-keV X-ray flux peaks five to six years after the explosion, a single measurement of the X-ray line emission at this time can place a constraint on the explosion physics that is complementary to those derived from earlier phase optical spectra or light curves. We perform detector simulations of current and future X-ray telescopes to investigate the possibilities of detecting the X-ray line at 5.9 keV. Of the currently existing telescopes, XMM-Newton/pn is the best instrument for close (≲1-2 Mpc), non-background limited SNe Ia because of its large effective area. Due to its low instrumental background, Chandra/ACIS is currently the best choice for SNe Ia at distances above ˜2 Mpc. For the delayed-detonation scenario, a line detection is feasible with Chandra up to ˜3 Mpc for an exposure time of 106 s. We find that it should be possible with currently existing X-ray instruments (with exposure times ≲5 × 105 s) to detect both of our models at sufficiently high S/N to distinguish between them for hypothetical events within the Local Group. The prospects for detection will be better with future missions. For example, the proposed Athena/X-IFU instrument could detect our delayed

Explosive welding involves processes like the detonation of explosive, impact of metal structures and strong fluid-structure interaction, while the whole process of explosive welding has not been well modeled before. In this paper, a novel smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model is developed to simulate explosive welding. In the SPH model, a kernel gradient correction algorithm is used to achieve better computational accuracy. A density adapting technique which can effectively treat large density ratio is also proposed. The developed SPH model is firstly validated by simulating a benchmark problem of one-dimensional TNT detonation and an impact welding problem. The SPH model is then successfully applied to simulate the whole process of explosive welding. It is demonstrated that the presented SPH method can capture typical physics in explosive welding including explosion wave, welding surface morphology, jet flow and acceleration of the flyer plate. The welding angle obtained from the SPH simulation agrees well with that from a kinematic analysis.

We report Swift/BAT survey observations of the Tycho's supernova remnant, performed over a period of 104 months since the mission's launch. The remnant is detected with high significance (>10 sigma) below 50 keV. We detect significant hard X-ray emission in the 60-85 keV band, above the continuum level predicted by a simple synchrotron model. The location of the observed excess is consistent with line emission from radioactive Titanium-44, so far reported only for Type II supernovaexplosions. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of the galactic supernova rate, and nucleosynthesis in Type Ia supernova.

While wide field surveys have yielded remarkable quantities of photometry of transient objects, including supernovae, light curves reconstructed from this data suffer from several characteristic problems. Because most transients are discovered near the detection limit, signal to noise is generally poor; because coverage is limited to the observing season, light curves are often incomplete; and because temporal sampling can be uneven across filters, these problems can be exacerbated at any one wavelength. While the prevailing approach of modeling individual light curves independently is successful at recovering inferences for the objects with the highest quality observations, it typically neglects a substantial portion of the data and can introduce systematic biases. Joint modeling of the light curves of transient populations enables direct inference on population-level characteristics as well as superior measurements for individual objects. We present a new hierarchical Bayesian model for supernova light curves, where information inferred from observations of every individual light curve in a sample is partially pooled across objects to constrain population-level hyperparameters. Using an efficient Hamiltonian Monte Carlo sampling technique, the model posterior can be explored to enable marginalization over weakly-identified hyperparameters through full Bayesian inference. We demonstrate our technique on the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) Type IIP supernova light curve sample published by Sanders et al. (2015), consisting of nearly 20,000 individual photometric observations of more than 70 supernovae in five photometric filters. We discuss the Stan probabilistic programming language used to implement the model, computational challenges, and prospects for future work including generalization to multiple supernova types. We also discuss scientific results from the PS1 dataset including a new relation between the peak magnitude and decline rate of SNe IIP, a new perspective on the

The aim of this work is to present a semi-analytical light curve modeling code which can be used for estimating physical properties of core collapse supernovae (SNe) in a quick and efficient way. To verify our code we fit light curves of Type II SNe and compare our best parameter estimates to those from hydrodynamical calculations. For this analysis we use the quasi-bolometric light curves of five different Type IIP supernovae. In each case we get appropriate results for the initial pre-supernova parameters. We conclude that this semi-analytical light curve model is useful to get approximate physical properties of Type II SNe without using time-consuming numerical hydrodynamic simulations.

Spectrophotometry of SN 1996al carried out throughout 15 years is presented. The early photometry suggests that SN 1996al is a Linear type-II supernova, with an absolute peak of Mv ~ -18.2 mag. Early spectra present broad, asymmetric Balmer emissions, with super-imposed narrow lines with P-Cygni profile, and He I features with asymmetric, broad emission components. The analysis of the line profiles shows that the H and He broad components form in the same region of the ejecta. By day +142, the Halpha profile dramatically changes: the narrow P-Cygni profile disappears, and the Halpha is fitted by three emission components, that will be detected over the remaining 15 yrs of the SN monitoring campaign. Instead, the He I emissions become progressively narrower and symmetric. A sudden increase in flux of all He I lines is observed between 300 and 600 days. Models show that the supernova luminosity is sustained by the interaction of low mass (~1.15 Msun) ejecta, expelled in a low kinetic energy (~ 1.6 x 10^50 erg) ...

The nature of the supernova leading to the Crab Nebula has long been controversial because of the low energy that is present in the observed nebula. One possibility is that there is significant energy in extended fast material around the Crab but searches for such material have not led to detections. An electron capture supernovamodel can plausibly account for the low energy and the observed abundances in the Crab. Here, we examine the evolution of the Crab pulsar wind nebula inside a freely expanding supernova and find that the observed properties are most consistent with a low energy event. Both the velocity and radius of the shell material, and the amount of gas swept up by the pulsar wind point to a low explosion energy (∼10{sup 50} erg). We do not favor a model in which circumstellar interaction powers the supernova luminosity near maximum light because the required mass would limit the freely expanding ejecta.

The nature of the supernova leading to the Crab Nebula has long been controversial because of the low energy that is present in the observed nebula. One possibility is that there is significant energy in extended fast material around the Crab but searches for such material have not led to detections. An electron capture supernovamodel can plausibly account for the low energy and the observed abundances in the Crab. Here, we examine the evolution of the Crab pulsar wind nebula inside a freely expanding supernova and find that the observed properties are most consistent with a low energy event. Both the velocity and radius of the shell material, and the amount of gas swept up by the pulsar wind point to a low explosion energy ($\\sim 10^{50}$ ergs). We do not favor a model in which circumstellar interaction powers the supernova luminosity near maximum light because the required mass would limit the freely expanding ejecta.

Full Text Available As an idealized model of the e ects of energy release by supernovae during galaxy formation, we consider an explosion at the center of a halo which forms at the intersection of laments in the plane of a cosmological pancake by gravitational instability during pancake collapse. Such halos resemble the virialized objects found in N{body simulations in a CDM universe and, therefore, serve as a convenient, scale{free test{bed model for galaxy formation. ASPH=P3M simulations reveal that such explosions are anisotropic. The energy and metals are channeled into the low density regions, away from the pancake plane. The pancake remains essentially undisturbed, even if the explosion is strong enough to blow away all the gas lo- cated inside the halo at the onset of the explosion and reheat the IGM surrounding the pancake. Infall quickly replenishes this ejected gas and gradually restores the gas fraction as the halo mass continues to grow. Estimates of the collapse epoch and SN energy{release for galaxies of di erent mass in the CDM model can re- late these results to scale{dependent questions of blow{out and blow{away and their implication for early IGM heating and metal enrichment and the creation of dark{matter{dominated dwarf galaxies.

The hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) is rich in metals, which are synthesised by supernovae (SNe) and accumulate over time into the deep gravitational potential well of clusters of galaxies. Since most of the elements visible in X-rays are formed by type Ia (SNIa) and/or core-collapse (SNcc) supernovae, measuring their abundances gives us direct information on the nucleosynthesis products of billions of SNe since the epoch of the star formation peak (z 2-3). In this study, we compare the most accurate average X/Fe abundance ratios (compiled in a previous work from XMM-Newton EPIC and RGS observations of 44 galaxy clusters, groups, and ellipticals), representative of the chemical enrichment in the nearby ICM, to various SNIa and SNcc nucleosynthesis models found in the literature. The use of a SNcc model combined to any favoured standard SNIa model (deflagration or delayed-detonation) fails to reproduce our abundance pattern. In particular, the Ca/Fe and Ni/Fe ratios are significantly underestimated by the models. We show that the Ca/Fe ratio can be reproduced better, either by taking a SNIa delayed-detonation model that matches the observations of the Tycho supernova remnant, or by adding a contribution from the "Ca-rich gap transient" SNe, whose material should easily mix into the hot ICM. On the other hand, the Ni/Fe ratio can be reproduced better by assuming that both deflagration and delayed-detonation SNIa contribute in similar proportions to the ICM enrichment. In either case, the fraction of SNIa over the total number of SNe (SNIa+SNcc) contributing to the ICM enrichment ranges within 29-45%. This fraction is found to be systematically higher than the corresponding SNIa/(SNIa+SNcc) fraction contributing to the enrichment of the proto-solar environnement (15-25%). We also discuss and quantify two useful constraints on both SNIa (i.e. the initial metallicity on SNIa progenitors and the fraction of low-mass stars that result in SNIa) and SNcc (i.e. the effect of

Neutrino oscillations affect light element synthesis through the neutrino-process in supernovaexplosions. The 7Li and 11B yields produced in a supernovaexplosion of a 16.2 solar-mass star model increase by factors of 1.9 and 1.3 in the case of large mixing angle solution with normal mass hierarchy and sin^{2}2theta_{13} > 0.002 compared with those without the oscillations. In the case of inverted mass hierarchy or nonadiabatic 13-mixing resonance, the increment of their yields is much smaller. Neutrino oscillations raise the reaction rates of charged-current neutrino-process reactions in the region outside oxygen-rich layers. The number ratio of 7Li/11B could be a tracer of normal mass hierarchy and relatively large theta_{13}, still satisfying sin^{2}2theta_{13} < 0.1, through future precise observations in stars having strong supernova component.

The emission of supernova remnants reflects the properties of both the progenitor supernovae and the surrounding environment. The complex morphology of the remnants, however, hampers the disentanglement of the two contributions. Here we aim at identifying the imprint of SN 1987A on the X-ray emission of its remnant and at constraining the structure of the environment surrounding the supernova. We performed high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations describing SN 1987A soon after the core-collapse and the following three-dimensional expansion of its remnant between days 1 and 15000 after the supernova. We demonstrated that the physical model reproducing the main observables of SN 1987A during the first 250 days of evolution reproduces also the X-ray emission of the subsequent expanding remnant, thus bridging the gap between supernovae and supernova remnants. By comparing model results with observations, we constrained the explosion energy in the range $1.2-1.4\\times 10^{51}$~erg and the envelope mass in the rang...

A model is proposed to simulate turbulent combustion in confined TNT explosions. It is based on: (i) the multi-component gasdynamic conservation laws, (ii) a fast-chemistry model for TNT-air combustion, (iii) a thermodynamic model for frozen reactants and equilibrium products, (iv) a high-order Godunov scheme providing a non-diffusive solution of the governing equations, and (v) an ILES approach whereby adaptive mesh refinement is used to capture the energy bearing scales of the turbulence on the grid. Three-dimensional numerical simulations of explosion fields from 1.5-g PETN/TNT charges were performed. Explosions in six different chambers were studied: three calorimeters (volumes of 6.6-l, 21.2-l and 40.5-l with L/D = 1), and three tunnels (L/D = 3.8, 4.65 and 12.5 with volumes of 6.3-l) - to investigate the influence of chamber volume and geometry on the combustion process. Predicted pressures histories were quite similar to measured pressure histories for all cases studied. Experimentally, mass fraction of products, Y{sub p}{sup exp}, reached a peak value of 88% at an excess air ratio of twice stoichiometric, and then decayed with increasing air dilution; mass fractions Y{sub p}{sup calc} computed from the numerical simulations followed similar trends. Based on this agreement, we conclude that the dominant effect that controls the rate of TNT combustion with air is the turbulent mixing rate; the ILES approach along with the fast-chemistry model used here adequately captures this effect.

Full Text Available CREST is an innovative reactive-burn model that has been developed at AWE for simulating shock initiation and detonation propagation behaviour in explosives. The model has a different basis from other reactive-burn models in that its reaction rate is independent of local flow variables behind the shock wave e.g. pressure and temperature. The foundation for CREST, based on a detailed analysis of data from particle-velocity gauge experiments, is that the reaction rate depends only on the local shock strength and the time since the shock passed. Since a measure of shock strength is the entropy of the non-reacted explosive, which remains constant behind a shock, CREST uses an entropy-dependent reaction rate. This paper will provide an overview of the CREST model and its predictive capability. In particular, it will be shown that the model can predict a wide range of experimental phenomena for both shock initiation (e.g. the effects of porosity and initial temperature on sustained-shock and thin-flyer initiation and detonation propagation (e.g. the diameter effect curve and detonation failure cones using a single set of coefficients.

The large-number hypothesis conjectures that fundamental constants may vary. Accordingly, the spacetime variation of fundamental constants has been an active subject of research for decades. Recently, using data obtained with large telescopes a phenomenological model in which the fine structure constant might vary spatially has been proposed. We test whether this hypothetical spatial variation of {\\alpha}, which follows a dipole law, is compatible with the data of distant thermonuclear supernovae. Unlike previous works, in our calculations we consider not only the variation of the luminosity distance when a varying {\\alpha} is adopted, but we also take into account the variation of the peak luminosity of Type Ia supernovae resulting from a variation of {\\alpha}. This is done using an empirical relation for the peak bolometric magnitude of thermonuclear supernovae that correctly reproduces the results of detailed numerical simulations. We find that there is no significant difference between the several phenome...

We present new models for the forward and reverse shock thermal X-ray emission from core-collapse and Type Ia supernova remnants (SNRs) that include the efficient production of cosmic rays (CR) via nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). Our CR-hydro-NEI code takes into account non-equilibrium ionization, hydrodynamic effects of efficient CR production on the SNR evolution, and collisional temperature equilibration among heavy ions and electrons in both the shocked supernova (SN) ejecta and the shocked circumstellar material. While X-ray emission is emphasized here, our code self-consistently determines both thermal and non-thermal broadband emission from radio to TeV energies. We include Doppler broadening of the spectral lines by thermal motions of the ions and by the remnant expansion. We study, in general terms, the roles that the ambient environment, progenitor models, temperature equilibration, and processes related to DSA have on the thermal and non-thermal spectra. The study of X-ray line emission from young SNRs is a powerful tool for determining specific SN elemental contributions and for providing critical information that helps to understand the type and energetics of the explosion, the composition of the ambient medium in which the SN exploded, and the ionization and dynamics of the hot plasma in the shocked SN ejecta and interstellar medium. With the approaching launch of the next-generation X-ray satellite Astro-H, observations of spectral lines with unprecedented high resolution will become a reality. Our self-consistent calculations of the X-ray spectra from various progenitors will help interpret future observations of SNRs.

We present new models for the forward and reverse shock thermal X-ray emission from core-collapse and Type Ia supernova remnants (SNRs) that include the efficient production of cosmic rays (CR) via nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). Our CR-hydro-NEI code takes into account non-equilibrium ionization, hydrodynamic effects of efficient CR production on the SNR evolution, and collisional temperature equilibration among heavy ions and electrons in both the shocked supernova (SN) ejecta and the shocked circumstellar material. While X-ray emission is emphasized here, our code self-consistently determines both thermal and non-thermal broadband emission from radio to TeV energies. We include Doppler broadening of the spectral lines by thermal motions of the ions and by the remnant expansion. We study, in general terms, the roles that the ambient environment, progenitor models, temperature equilibration, and processes related to DSA have on the thermal and non-thermal spectra. The study of X-ray line emission from young SNRs is a powerful tool for determining specific SN elemental contributions and for providing critical information that helps to understand the type and energetics of the explosion, the composition of the ambient medium in which the SN exploded, and the ionization and dynamics of the hot plasma in the shocked SN ejecta and interstellar medium. With the approaching launch of the next-generation X-ray satellite Astro-H, observations of spectral lines with unprecedented high resolution will become a reality. Our self-consistent calculations of the X-ray spectra from various progenitors will help interpret future observations of SNRs.

The spatial and velocity distributions of nuclear species synthesized in the innermost regions of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) can yield important clues about explosion asymmetries and the operation of the still disputed explosion mechanism. Recent observations of radioactive 44Ti with high-energy satellite telescopes (NuSTAR, INTEGRAL) have measured gamma-ray line details, which provide direct evidence of large-scale explosion asymmetries in Supernova 1987A, and in Cassiopeia A (Cas A) even by mapping of the spatial brightness distribution (NuSTAR). Here, we discuss a three-dimensional (3D) simulation of a neutrino-driven explosion, using a parametrized neutrino engine, whose 44Ti distribution is mostly concentrated in one hemisphere pointing opposite to the neutron-star (NS) kick velocity. Both exhibit intriguing resemblance to the observed morphology of the Cas A remnant, although neither progenitor nor explosion were fine-tuned for a perfect match. Our results demonstrate that the asymmetries observed i...

To fully understand coronal heating, we must first understand the different solar processes that move energy throughout the solar atmosphere. TRACE observations have revealed a short cold loop evolving over a small timescale, seemingly with multiple explosive events occurring along its length. An adaptive hydrodynamic radiation code was used to simulate the loop under non-equilibrium ionization. Footpoint heating and cold plasma injection were considered as possible scenarios to reproduce the observations. The simulation results were converted into synthetic observations through forward modelling, for comparison to SOHO/SUMER spectral observations of the loop.

With new observational facilities becoming available soon, discovering and characterizing supernovae from the first stars will open up alternative observational windows to the end of the cosmic dark ages. Based on a semi-analytical merger tree model of early star formation, we constrain Population III supernova rates. We find that our method reproduces the Population III supernova rates of large-scale cosmological simulations very well. Our computationally efficient model allows us to survey a large parameter space and to explore a wide range of different scenarios for Population III star formation. Our calculations show that observations of the first supernovae can be used to differentiate between cold and warm dark matter models and to constrain the corresponding particle mass of the latter. Our predictions can also be used to optimize survey strategies with the goal to maximize supernova detection rates.

With new observational facilities becoming available soon, discovering and characterising supernovae from the first stars will open up alternative observational windows to the end of the cosmic dark ages. Based on a semi-analytical merger tree model of early star formation we constrain Population III supernova rates. We find that our method reproduces the Population III supernova rates of large-scale cosmological simulations very well. Our computationally efficient model allows us to survey a large parameter space and to explore a wide range of different scenarios for Population III star formation. Our calculations show that observations of the first supernovae can be used to differentiate between cold and warm dark matter models and to constrain the corresponding particle mass of the latter. Our predictions can also be used to optimize survey strategies with the goal to maximize supernova detection rates.

weak and 'soft' [1], very different from a gamma-ray burst and more in line with what is expected from a normal supernova." So, after the supernova was discovered, the team rapidly observed it from the Asiago Observatory in Northern Italy and established that it was a Type Ic supernova. "These are supernovae produced by stars that have lost their hydrogen and helium-rich outermost layers before exploding, and are the only type of supernovae which are associated with (long) gamma-ray bursts," explains Mazzali. "The object thus became even more interesting!" Earlier this year, an independent team of astronomers reported in the journal Nature that SN 2008D is a rather normal supernova. The fact that X-rays were detected was, they said, because for the first time, astronomers were lucky enough to catch the star in the act of exploding. Mazzali and his team think otherwise. "Our observations and modeling show this to be a rather unusual event, to be better understood in terms of an object lying at the boundary between normal supernovae and gamma-ray bursts." The team set up an observational campaign to monitor the evolution of the supernova using both ESO and national telescopes, collecting a large quantity of data. The early behaviour of the supernova indicated that it was a highly energetic event, although not quite as powerful as a gamma-ray burst. After a few days, however, the spectra of the supernova began to change. In particular Helium lines appeared, showing that the progenitor star was not stripped as deeply as supernovae associated with gamma-ray bursts. Over the years, Mazzali and his group have developed theoretical models to analyse the properties of supernovae. When applied to SN2008D, their models indicated that the progenitor star was at birth as massive as 30 times the Sun, but had lost so much mass that at the time of the explosion the star had a mass of only 8-10 solar masses. The likely result of the collapse of such a massive star is a black hole

Carrying 10{sup 44} joules of kinetic energy and a rich mix of newly synthesized atomic nuclei, core-collapse supernovae are the preeminent foundries of the nuclear species which make up our solar system and ourselves. Signaling the inevitable death of a massive star, and the birth of a neutron star or black hole, core-collapse supernovae combine physics over a wide range in spatial scales, from kilometer-sized hydrodynamic motions (eventually growing to gigameter scale) down to femtometer-scale nuclear reactions. We will discuss our emerging understanding of the convectively-unstable, neutrino-driven explosion mechanism, based on increasingly realistic neutrino radiation hydrodynamic simulations that include progressively better nuclear and particle physics. Multi-dimensional models with spectral neutrino transport from several research groups, which slowly develop successful explosions for a range of progenitors, have recently motivated changes in our understanding of the neutrino reheating mechanism. In a similar fashion, improvements in nuclear physics, most notably explorations of weak interactions on nuclei and the nuclear equation of state, continue to refine our understanding of the births of neutron stars and the supernovae that result. Recent progress on both the macroscopic and microscopic effects that affect core-collapse supernovae are discussed.

Full Text Available Carrying 1044 joules of kinetic energy and a rich mix of newly synthesized atomic nuclei, core-collapse supernovae are the preeminent foundries of the nuclear species which make up our solar system and ourselves. Signaling the inevitable death of a massive star, and the birth of a neutron star or black hole, core-collapse supernovae combine physics over a wide range in spatial scales, from kilometer-sized hydrodynamic motions (eventually growing to gigameter scale down to femtometer-scale nuclear reactions. We will discuss our emerging understanding of the convectively-unstable, neutrino-driven explosion mechanism, based on increasingly realistic neutrino radiation hydrodynamic simulations that include progressively better nuclear and particle physics. Multi-dimensional models with spectral neutrino transport from several research groups, which slowly develop successful explosions for a range of progenitors, have recently motivated changes in our understanding of the neutrino reheating mechanism. In a similar fashion, improvements in nuclear physics, most notably explorations of weak interactions on nuclei and the nuclear equation of state, continue to refine our understanding of the births of neutron stars and the supernovae that result. Recent progress on both the macroscopic and microscopic effects that affect core-collapse supernovae are discussed.

Context. Molecular clouds are known to be turbulent and strongly affected by stellar feedback. Moreover, stellar feedback is believed to be driving turbulence at large scales in galaxies. Aims. We study the role played by supernovae in molecular clouds and the influence of the magnetic field on this process. Methods. We perform three-dimensional numerical simulations of supernovaexplosions, in and near turbulent self-gravitating molecular clouds. In order to study the influence of the magnetic field, we perform both hydrodynamical and MHD simulations. We also run a series of simple uniform density medium simulations and develop a simple analytical model. Results. We find that the total amount of momentum that is delivered during supernovaexplosions typically varies by a factor of about 2 even when the gas density changes by 3 orders of magnitude. However, the amount of momentum delivered to the dense gas varies by almost a factor 10 if the supernova explodes within or outside the molecular cloud. The magnet...

Using three magnified Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) detected behind massive CLASH clusters (Abell~383, MACSJ1532 and MACSJ1720) observed using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we perform a first pilot study to see whether standardizable candles can be used to calibrate cluster mass maps created from strong lensing observations. Such calibrations will be crucial when next generation HST cluster surveys (e.g. FRONTIER) provide magnification maps that will, in turn, form the basis for the exploration of the high redshift universe. We demonstrate that supernovae can be used as "test beams" for this purpose. We use a combination of spectroscopic and photometric methods to classify the SNe and then determine the SN amplification factors using the SALT2/Union2.1 framework. We find SNe with significant amplification, up to a factor of 1.7 at $\\sim5\\sigma$ significance for SN-L2 behind MACSJ1720. We initially conducted this as a blind study to avoid fine tuning of parameters, and there we found a mean amplification dif...

The Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies are the pillars of modern cosmology. It has recently been suggested that axion which is a dark matter candidate in the framework of the standard model could condensate in the early universe and induce photon cooling before the epoch of the photon last scattering. Although this may render a solution to the overproduction problem of primordial {sup 7}Li abundance, there arises another serious difficulty of overproducing D abundance. We propose a hybrid dark matter model with both axions and relic supersymmetric (SUSY) particles to solve both overproduction problems of the primordial D and {sup 7}Li abundances simultaneously. The BBN also serves to constrain the nature of neutrinos. Considering non-thermal photons produced in the decay of the heavy sterile neutrinos due to the magnetic moment, we explore the cosmological constraint on the strength of neutrino magnetic moment consistent with the observed light element abundances. Core-collapse supernovae eject huge flux of energetic neutrinos which affect explosive nucleosynthesis of rare isotopes like {sup 7}Li, {sup 11}B, {sup 92}Nb, {sup 138}La and {sup 180}Ta and r-process elements. Several isotopes depend strongly on the neutrino flavor oscillation due to the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) effect. Combining the recent experimental constraints on θ{sub 13} with predicted and observed supernova-produced abundance ratio {sup 11}B/{sup 7}Li encapsulated in the presolar grains from the Murchison meteorite, we show a marginal preference for an inverted neutrino mass hierarchy. We also discuss supernova relic neutrinos (SRN) that may indicate the softness of the equation of state (EoS) of nuclear matter and adiabatic conditions of the neutrino oscillation.

Much progress in realistic modeling of core-collapse supernovae has occurred recently through the availability of multi-teraflop machines and the increasing sophistication of supernova codes. These improvements are enabling simulations with enough realism that the explosion mechanism, long a mystery, may soon be delineated. We briefly describe the CHIMERA code, a supernova code we have developed to simulate core-collapse supernovae in 1, 2, and 3 spatial dimensions. We then describe the results of an ongoing suite of 2D simulations initiated from a 12, 15, 20, and 25 solar mass progenitor. These have all exhibited explosions and are currently in the expanding phase with the shock at between 5,000 and 20,000 km. We also briefly describe an ongoing simulation in 3 spatial dimensions initiated from the 15 solar mass progenitor.

Much progress in realistic modeling of core-collapse supernovae has occurred recently through the availability of multi-teraflop machines and the increasing sophistication of supernova codes. These improvements are enabling simulations with enough realism that the explosion mechanism, long a mystery, may soon be delineated. We briefly describe the CHIMERA code, a supernova code we have developed to simulate core-collapse supernovae in 1, 2, and 3 spatial dimensions. We then describe the results of an ongoing suite of 2D simulations initiated from a 12, 15, 20, and 25 M{sub o-dot} progenitor. These have all exhibited explosions and are currently in the expanding phase with the shock at between 5,000 and 20,000 km. We also briefly describe an ongoing simulation in 3 spatial dimensions initiated from the 15 M{sub o-dot} progenitor.

This study represents part of a larger effort to systematically model the effects of differing source region properties on ground motion from underground nuclear explosions at the Nevada Test Site. In previous work by the authors the primary emphasis was on alluvium and both saturated and unsaturated tuff. We have attempted to model events on Pahute Mesa, where either the working point medium, or some of the layers above the working point, or both, are hard rock. The complex layering at these sites, however, has prevented us from drawing unambiguous conclusions about modelling hard rock. In order to learn more about the response of hard rock to underground nuclear explosions, we have attempted to model the PILEDRIVER event. PILEDRIVER was fired on June 2, 1966 in the granite stock of Area 15 at the Nevada Test Site. The working point was at a depth of 462.7 m and the yield was determined to be 61 kt. Numerous surface, sub-surface and free-field measurements were made and analyzed by SRI. An attempt was made to determine the contribution of spall to the teleseismic signal, but proved unsuccessful because most of the data from below-shot-level gauges was lost. Nonetheless, there is quite a bit of good quality data from a variety of locations. We have been able to obtain relatively good agreement with the experimental PILEDRIVER waveforms. In order to do so, we had to model the granodiorite as being considerably weaker than ``good quality`` granite, and it had to undergo considerable weakening due to shock damage as well. In addition, the near-surface layers had to be modeled as being weak and compressible and as have a much lower sound speed than the material at depth. The is consistent with a fractured and jointed material at depth, and a weathered material near the surface.

This study represents part of a larger effort to systematically model the effects of differing source region properties on ground motion from underground nuclear explosions at the Nevada Test Site. In previous work by the authors the primary emphasis was on alluvium and both saturated and unsaturated tuff. We have attempted to model events on Pahute Mesa, where either the working point medium, or some of the layers above the working point, or both, are hard rock. The complex layering at these sites, however, has prevented us from drawing unambiguous conclusions about modelling hard rock. In order to learn more about the response of hard rock to underground nuclear explosions, we have attempted to model the PILEDRIVER event. PILEDRIVER was fired on June 2, 1966 in the granite stock of Area 15 at the Nevada Test Site. The working point was at a depth of 462.7 m and the yield was determined to be 61 kt. Numerous surface, sub-surface and free-field measurements were made and analyzed by SRI. An attempt was made to determine the contribution of spall to the teleseismic signal, but proved unsuccessful because most of the data from below-shot-level gauges was lost. Nonetheless, there is quite a bit of good quality data from a variety of locations. We have been able to obtain relatively good agreement with the experimental PILEDRIVER waveforms. In order to do so, we had to model the granodiorite as being considerably weaker than good quality'' granite, and it had to undergo considerable weakening due to shock damage as well. In addition, the near-surface layers had to be modeled as being weak and compressible and as have a much lower sound speed than the material at depth. The is consistent with a fractured and jointed material at depth, and a weathered material near the surface.

We refine our previously introduced parameterized model for explosive carbon-oxygen fusion during thermonuclear supernovae (SN Ia) by adding corrections to post-processing of recorded Lagrangian fluid element histories to obtain more accurate isotopic yields. Deflagration and detonation products are verified for propagation in a uniform density medium. A new method is introduced for reconstructing the temperature-density history within the artificially thick model deflagration front. We obtain better than 5\\% consistency between the electron capture computed by the burning model and yields from post-processing. For detonations, we compare to a benchmark calculation of the structure of driven steady-state planar detonations performed with a large nuclear reaction network and error-controlled integration. We verify that, for steady-state planar detonations down to a density of 5x10^6 g/cc, our post processing matches the major abundances in the benchmark solution typically to better than 10% for times greater t...

Most material models used in numerical simulations are based on heuristics and empirically calibrated to experimental data. For a specific model, key questions are determining its domain of applicability and assessing its relative merits compared to other models. Answering these questions should be a part of model verification and validation (V and V). Here, we focus on V and V of high explosivemodels. Typically, model developers implemented their model in their own hydro code and use different sets of experiments to calibrate model parameters. Rarely can one find in the literature simulation results for different models of the same experiment. Consequently, it is difficult to assess objectively the relative merits of different models. This situation results in part from the fact that experimental data is scattered through the literature (articles in journals and conference proceedings) and that the printed literature does not allow the reader to obtain data from a figure in electronic form needed to make detailed comparisons among experiments and simulations. In addition, it is very time consuming to set up and run simulations to compare different models over sufficiently many experiments to cover the range of phenomena of interest. The first difficulty could be overcome if the research community were to support an online web based database. The second difficulty can be greatly reduced by automating procedures to set up and run simulations of similar types of experiments. Moreover, automated testing would be greatly facilitated if the data files obtained from a database were in a standard format that contained key experimental parameters as meta-data in a header to the data file. To illustrate our approach to V and V, we have developed a high explosive database (HED) at LANL. It now contains a large number of shock initiation experiments. Utilizing the header information in a data file from HED, we have written scripts to generate an input file for a hydro code

Full Text Available Mathematical model for the possible development of the primary explosion at the grain processing enterprise is created. It is proved that only instability is possible for the combustion process. This model enables to estimate possibility of the secondary explosion at any object of the enterprise and forms the base for mathematical support of the decision support system for explosion-proof. Such decision support system can be included in the control system of the processing enterprise.

Editors Note:In these last two weeks of 2015, well be looking at a few selections from among the most-downloaded paperspublished in AAS journals this year. The usual posting schedule will resume after the AAS winter meeting.The Changing Fractions of Type Ia Supernova NUVOptical Subclasses with RedshiftPublished April2015Main takeaway:A team of scientists led by Peter Milne (University of Arizona) used ultraviolet observations from the Swift spacecraft to determine that type Ia supernovae, stellar explosions previously thought to all belong in the same class, actually fall into two subgroups: those that are slightly redder in NUV wavelengths and those that are slightly bluer.Plot of the percentage of supernovae that are NUV-blue (rather than NUV-red), as a function of redshift. NUV-blue supernovae dominate at higher redshifts. [Milne et al. 2015]Why its interesting:It turns out that the fraction of supernovae in each of these two groups is redshift-dependent. At low redshifts (i.e., nearby), the population of type Ia supernovae is dominated by NUV-red supernovae. At high redshifts (i.e., far away), the population is dominated by NUV-blue supernovae. Since cosmological distances are measured using Type Ia supernovae as standard candles, the fact that weve been modeling these supernovae all the same way (rather than treating them as two separate subclasses) means we may have been systematically misinterpreting distances.What this means for the universes expansion:This seemingly simple discovery carries hefty repercussions in fact, our estimates of the expansion rate of the universe may be incorrect! The authors believe that if we correct for this error, well find that the universe is not expanding as quickly as we thought.CitationPeter A. Milne et al 2015 ApJ 803 20. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/803/1/20

This thesis describes the design, development, and testing of a search system for supernovae, based on the use of current computer and detector technology. This search uses a computer-controlled telescope and charge coupled device (CCD) detector to collect images of hundreds of galaxies per night of observation, and a dedicated minicomputer to process these images in real time. The system is now collecting test images of up to several hundred fields per night, with a sensitivity corresponding to a limiting magnitude (visual) of 17. At full speed and sensitivity, the search will examine some 6000 galaxies every three nights, with a limiting magnitude of 18 or fainter, yielding roughly two supernovae per week (assuming one supernova per galaxy per 50 years) at 5 to 50 percent of maximum light. An additional 500 nearby galaxies will be searched every night, to locate about 10 supernovae per year at one or two percent of maximum light, within hours of the initial explosion.

Luminous Blue Variables have been suggested to be the direct progenitors of supernova types IIb and IIn, with enhanced mass loss prior to explosion. However, the mechanism of this mass loss is not yet known. Here, we investigate the qualitative behaviour of theoretical stellar wind mass-loss as a function of Teff across two bi-stability jumps in blue supergiant regime and also in proximity to the Eddington limit, relevant for LBVs. To investigate the physical ingredients that play a role in the radiative acceleration we calculate blue supergiant wind models with the CMFGEN non-LTE model atmosphere code over an effective temperature range between 30000 and 8800 K. Although our aim is not to provide new mass-loss rates for BA supergiants, we study and confirm the existence of two bi-stability jumps in mass-loss rates predicted by Vink, de Koter, & Lamers (1999). However, they are found to occur at somewhat lower Teff (20000 and 9000 K, respectively) than found previously, which would imply that stars may ev...

The Italian communities engaged in Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) and supernova research have been using actively the ESO telescopes and have contributed to improve and refine the observing techniques and even to guide the characteristics and performances of the instruments that were developed. Members of these two communities have recently found ground for a close collaboration on the powerful supernovae that underlie some GRBs. I will review the programs that have led to some important discoveries and milestones on thermonuclear and core-collapse supernovae and on GRBs.

We here propose a two-step model for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) associated with supernovae. In the first step, the core collapse of a star with mass $\\ge 19M_\\odot$ leads to a massive neutron star and a normal supernova, and subsequently hypercritical accretion of the neutron star from the supernova ejecta may give rise to a jet through neutrino annihilation along the stellar rotation axis. However, because of too much surrounding matter, this jet rapidly enters a nonrelativistic phase and evolves to a large bubble. In the second step, the neutron star promptly implodes to a rapidly rotating black hole surrounded by a torus when the mass of the star increases to the maximum mass and meanwhile its rotation frequency increases to the upper limit due to the accreted angular momentum. The gravitational binding energy of the torus may be dissipated by a magnetized relativistic wind, which may then be absorbed by the supernova ejecta, thus producing an energetic hypernova. The rotational energy of the black hole may b...

The contained underground explosion (CUE) usually generates huge number of aftershocks. This kind of aftershocks induced by three CUEs was investigated in the paper. The conclusions show that the duration of aftershock waveforms are rather short, 70 percent of them range from 2 to 7; the occurrences of the aftershocks conform to negative power function, which has the power of-1.6. The aftershock sequence attenuates a little bit faster, with power of-1.0, within two weeks of post-explosions. During the early stage of post-explosions the aftershocks show up in a cluster, however, they usually show up individually during the late stage of post-explosions. The number of aftershocks generated by the compatible explosions differs by several times because of different medium and geological structure; within one month after an explosion with Richater magnitude of 5.5, the number of aftershocks attenuates to the background. Hereafter there are still tiny numbers of aftershocks.

In order to effectively capture a realistic terrain applicable to studies of cratering processes and landing hazards on Mars, we have obtained high resolution digital elevation models of several pristine explosion craters at the Nevada Test Site. We used the Airborne Terrain Mapper (ATM), operated by NASA's Wallops Flight Facility to obtain DEMs with 1 m spacing and 10 cm vertical errors of 4 main craters and many other craters and collapse pits. The main craters that were mapped are Sedan, Scooter, Schooner, and Danny Boy. The 370 m diameter Sedan crater, located on Yucca Flat, is the largest and freshest explosion crater on Earth that was formed under conditions similar to hypervelocity impact cratering. As such, it is effectively pristine, having been formed in 1962 as a result of a controlled detonation of a 100 kiloton thermonuclear device, buried at the appropriate equivalent depth of burst required to make a simple crater. Sedan was formed in alluvium of mixed lithology and subsequently studied using a variety of field-based methods. Nearby secondary craters were also formed at the time and were also mapped by ATM. Adjacent to Sedan and also in alluvium is Scooter, about 90 m in diameter and formed by a high-explosive event. Schooner (240 m) and Danny Boy (80 m) craters were also important targets for ATM as they were excavated in hard basalt and therefore have much rougher ejecta. This will allow study of ejecta patterns in hard rock as well as engineering tests of crater and rock avoidance and rover trafficability. In addition to the high resolution DEMs, crater geometric characteristics, RMS roughness maps, and other higher-order derived data products will be generated using these data. These will provide constraints for models of landing hazards on Mars and for rover trafficability. Other planned studies will include ejecta size-frequency distribution at the resolution of the DEM and at finer resolution through air photography and field measurements

Supernova 1987A, the brightest supernova since Kepler's in 1604, was detected 30 years ago at a distance of 160 000 light years in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Visible with the naked eye and detected with the full range of technology constructed since Kepler's time, SN 1987A has continued to be a rich source of empirical information to help understand supernovaexplosions and their evolution into supernova remnants. While the light output has faded by a factor of 10 000 000 over those 30 years, instrumentation, like the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array has continued to improve so that this supernova continues to be visible in X-rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared light and in radio emission. In this review, I will sketch what has been learned from these observations about the pre-supernova star and its final stages of evolution, the explosion physics, the energy sources for emission, and the shock physics as the expanding debris encounters the circumstellar ring that was created about 20 000 years before the explosion. Today, SN 1987A is making the transition to a supernova remnant- the energetics are no longer dominated by the radioactive elements produced in the explosion, but by the interaction of the expanding debris with the surrounding gas. While we are confident that the supernovaexplosion had its origin in gravitational collapse, careful searches for a compact object at the center of the remnant place upper limits of a few solar luminosities on that relic. Support for HST GO programs 13401 and 13405 was provided by NASA through grants from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.

The spectrum of the supernova relic neutrino (SRN) background from past stellar collapses including black hole formation (failed supernovae) is calculated. The redshift dependence of the black hole formation rate is considered on the basis of the metallicity evolution of galaxies. Assuming the mass and metallicity ranges of failed supernova progenitors, their contribution to SRNs is quantitatively estimated for the first time. Using this model, the dependences of SRNs on the cosmic star formation rate density, shock revival time and equation of state are investigated. The shock revival time is introduced as a parameter that should depend on the still unknown explosion mechanism of core collapse supernovae. The dependence on equation of state is considered for failed supernovae, whose collapse dynamics and neutrino emission are certainly affected. It is found that the low-energy spectrum of SRNs is mainly determined by the cosmic star formation rate density. These low-energy events will be observed in the Supe...

The spatial and velocity distributions of nuclear species synthesized in the innermost regions of core-collapse supernovae can yield important clues about explosion asymmetries and the operation of the still disputed explosion mechanism. Recent observations of radioactive 44Ti with high-energy satellite telescopes (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array [NuSTAR], INTEGRAL) have measured gamma-ray line details, which provide direct evidence of large-scale explosion asymmetries in SN 1987A and in Cassiopeia A (Cas A) even by mapping of the spatial brightness distribution (NuSTAR). Here we discuss a 3D simulation of a neutrino-driven explosion, using a parameterized neutrino engine, whose 44Ti distribution is mostly concentrated in one hemisphere pointing opposite to the neutron star (NS) kick velocity. Both exhibit intriguing resemblance to the observed morphology of the Cas A remnant, although neither the progenitor nor the explosion was fine-tuned for a perfect match. Our results demonstrate that the asymmetries observed in this remnant can, in principle, be accounted for by a neutrino-driven explosion, and that the high 44Ti abundance in Cas A may be explained without invoking rapid rotation or a jet-driven explosion, because neutrino-driven explosions generically eject large amounts of high-entropy matter. The recoil acceleration of the NS is connected to mass ejection asymmetries and is opposite to the direction of the stronger explosion, fully compatible with the gravitational tugboat mechanism. Our results also imply that Cas A and SN 1987A could possess similarly "one-sided" Ti and Fe asymmetries, with the difference that Cas A is viewed from a direction with large inclination angle to the NS motion, whereas the NS in SN 1987A should have a dominant velocity component pointing toward us.

We present results of high-resolution two-dimensional simulations which follow the first five minutes of a core collapse supernovaexplosion in a 15 solar mass blue supergiant progenitor. The computations start shortly after core bounce and include neutrino-matter interactions by using a light-bulb approximation for the neutrinos, and a treatment of the nucleosynthesis due to explosive silicon and oxygen burning. We find that newly formed iron-group elements are distributed throughout a significant fraction of the stellar helium core by the concerted action of convective and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities. Fast moving nickel mushrooms with velocities up to 4000 km/s are observed. A continuation of the calculations to later times, however, indicates, that the iron velocities observed in SN 1987 A cannot be reproduced due to a strong deceleration of the clumps during their interaction with the dense shell left behind by the shock at the He/H interface. Therefore, we cannot confirm the claim that convective "prem...

A summary is given of part of the CEC co-sponsored project MERGE (Modelling and Experimental Research into Gas Explosions). The objective of this part of the project was to provide improved Computational Fluid Dynamic explosionmodels with the potential for use in hazard assessments. Five organisati

Using radiation-hydrodynamics and radiative-transfer simulations, we explore the origin of the spectral diversity of interacting supernovae (SNe) of type IIn. We revisit SN1994W and investigate the dynamical configurations that can give rise to spectra with narrow lines at all times. We find that a standard ~10Msun 10^51erg SN ejecta ramming into a 0.4Msun dense CSM is inadequate for SN1994W, as it leads to the appearance of broad lines at late times. This structure, however, generates spectra that exhibit the key morphological changes seen in SN1998S. For SN1994W, we consider a completely different configuration, which involves the interaction at a large radius of a low mass inner shell with a high mass outer shell. Such a structure may arise in an 8-12Msun star from a nuclear flash (e.g., of Ne) followed within a few years by core collapse. Our simulations show that the large mass of the outer shell leads to the complete braking of the inner shell material, the formation of a slow dense shell, and the power...

One of the major challenges for modern supernova surveys is identifying the galaxy that hosted each explosion. Is there an accurate and efficient way to do this that avoids investing significant human resources?Why Identify Hosts?One problem in host galaxy identification. Here, the supernova lies between two galaxies but though the centroid of the galaxy on the right is closer in angular separation, this may be a distant background galaxy that is not actually near the supernova. [Gupta et al. 2016]Supernovae are a critical tool for making cosmological predictions that help us to understand our universe. But supernova cosmology relies on accurately identifying the properties of the supernovae including their redshifts. Since spectroscopic followup of supernova detections often isnt possible, we rely on observations of the supernova host galaxies to obtain redshifts.But how do we identify which galaxy hosted a supernova? This seems like a simple problem, but there are many complicating factors a seemingly nearby galaxy could be a distant background galaxy, for instance, or a supernovas host could be too faint to spot.The authors algorithm takes into account confusion, a measure of how likely the supernova is to be mismatched. In these illustrations of low (left) and high (right) confusion, the supernova is represented by a blue star, and the green circles represent possible host galaxies. [Gupta et al. 2016]Turning to AutomationBefore the era of large supernovae surveys, searching for host galaxies was done primarily by visual inspection. But current projects like the Dark Energy Surveys Supernova Program is finding supernovae by the thousands, and the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will likely discover hundreds of thousands. Visual inspection will not be possible in the face of this volume of data so an accurate and efficient automated method is clearly needed!To this end, a team of scientists led by Ravi Gupta (Argonne National Laboratory) has recently

Supernovae (SNe), the luminous explosions of stars, were observed since antiquity, with typical peak luminosity not exceeding 1.2x10^{43} erg/s (absolute magnitude >-19.5 mag). It is only in the last dozen years that numerous examples of SNe that are substantially super-luminous (>7x10^{43} erg/s; explosions of very massive stars due to the pair instability. A third, distinct group of hydrogen-poor events emits photons from rapidly-expanding hydrogen-poor material distributed over large radii, and are not powered by radioactivity (SLSN-I). Thes...

Maritime Improvised Explosive Devices (MIEDs) such as small boats filled with explosives are likely to be a threat in future combat scenarios. For example the suicide attack against the USS Cole in Yemen (October 2000) has shown how disastrous MIEDs can be. With relatively simple means a complete co

This Dr. ing. thesis deals with escalation scenarios initiated by gas explosions on offshore installations. Gas explosions is one of the major hazards to such installations. The objectives were to estimate the probability of ignition and frequency of gas explosions for gas leaks on top sides of offshore installations, and to estimate the response and resistance of components that could result in escalation if they failed. Main fields considered cover risk analysis methodology, gas explosions, simplified escalation models, evaluation of structural consequences, case studies, and guidelines. 107 refs., 33 figs., 33 tabs.

In an effort to increase crew survivability from catastrophic explosions of Launch Vehicles (LV), a study was conducted to determine the best method for predicting LV explosion environments in the near field. After reviewing such methods as TNT equivalence, Vapor Cloud Explosion (VCE) theory, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), it was determined that the best approach for this study was to assemble all available empirical data from full scale launch vehicle explosion tests and accidents. Approximately 25 accidents or full-scale tests were found that had some amount of measured blast wave, thermal, or fragment explosion environment characteristics. Blast wave overpressure was found to be much lower in the near field than predicted by most TNT equivalence methods. Additionally, fragments tended to be larger, fewer, and slower than expected if the driving force was from a high explosive type event. In light of these discoveries, a simple model for cryogenic rocket explosions is presented. Predictions from this model encompass all known applicable full scale launch vehicle explosion data. Finally, a brief description of on-going analysis and testing to further refine the launch vehicle explosion environment is discussed.

As a solution to the well-known problem that the shock wave potentially responsible for the explosion of a supernova actually tends to stall, we propose a new energy source arising from our model for dark matter. Our earlier model proposed that dark matter should consist of cm-large white dwarf-like objects kept together by a skin separating two different sorts of vacua. These dark matter balls or pearls will collect in the middle of any star throughout its lifetime. At some stage during the development of a supernova the balls will begin to take in neutrons and then other surrounding material. By passing into a ball nucleons fall through a potential of order 10 MeV, causing a severe production of heat - of order 10 foe for a solar mass of material eaten by the balls. The temperature in the iron core will thereby be raised, splitting up the iron into smaller nuclei. This provides a mechanism for reviving the shock wave when it arrives and making the supernovaexplosion really occur. The onset of the heating d...

Type Ia supernovae are exploding stars that are used to measure the accelerated expansion of the Universe and are responsible for most of the iron ever produced. Although there is general agreement that the exploding star is a white dwarf in a binary system, the exact configuration and trigger of the explosion is unclear, which could hamper their use for precision cosmology. Two families of progenitor models have been proposed. In the first, a white dwarf accretes material from a companion until it exceeds the Chandrasekhar mass, collapses and explodes. Alternatively, two white dwarfs merge, again causing catastrophic collapse and an explosion. It has hitherto been impossible to determine if either model is correct. Here we report the discovery of an object in pre-supernova archival X-ray images at the position of the recent type Ia supernova (2007on) in the elliptical galaxy NGC 1404. Deep optical images (also archival) show no sign of this object. From this we conclude that the X-ray source is the progenitor of the supernova, which favours the accretion model for this supernova, although the host galaxy is older (6-9 Gyr) than the age at which the explosions are predicted in the accreting models.

Full Text Available Air drilling is low cost and effectively improves the penetration rate and causes minimal damage to liquid-sensitive pay zones. However, there is a potential downhole explosion when combustible gas mixed with drilling fluid reaches the combustible condition. In this paper, based on the underground combustion mechanism, an explosive range calculation model is established. This model couples the state equation and the empirical formula method, which considers the inert gas content, pressure, mixed gas component, and temperature. The result shows that increase of the inert gas content narrows the explosive range, while increase of the gas temperature and pressure improves the explosive range. A case in Chongqing, China, is used to validate the explosive range calculation model.

The detection of supernova neutrinos is reviewed, focusing on the current status of experiments to detect supernova burst neutrinos and supernova relic neutrinos. The capabilities of each detector currently operating and in development are assessed and the likely neutrino yield for a future supernova is estimated. It is expected that much more information will be obtained if a supernova burst were to occur in our Galaxy than was obtained for supernova SN1987A. The detection of supernova relic neutrinos is considered and it is concluded that a large volume detector with a neutron tagging technique is necessary.

We use the magnitude-redshift relation for the type Ia supernova datacompiled by Riess et al. to analyze the Cardassian expansion scenario. This sce-nario assumes the universe to be fiat, matter dominated, and accelerating, butcontains no vacuum contribution. The best fitting model parameters are Ho =65.3kms-1 Mpc-1, n = 0.35 and Ωm = 0.05. When the highest redshift supernova,SN 1997ck, is excluded, Ho remains the same, but n becomes 0.20 and Ωm, 0.15, andthe matter density remains unreasonably low. Our result shows that this particularscenario is strongly disfavoured by the SNeIa data.

We present 2D simulations of pair-instability supernovae considering rapid rotation during their explosion phases. Recent studies of the Pop III star formation suggested that these stars could be born with a mass scale about 100 Msun and with a strong rotation. Based on stellar evolution models, these massive Pop III stars might have died as highly energetic pair-instability supernovae. We perform 2D calculations to investigate the impact of rotation on pair-instability supernovae. Our results suggest that rotation leads to an aspherical explosion due to an anisotropic collapse. If the first stars have a 50% of keplerian rotational rate of the oxygen core before their pair-instability explosions, the overall Ni production can be significantly reduced by about two orders of magnitude. An extreme case of 100% keplerian rotational rate shows an interesting feature of fluid instabilities along the equatorial plane caused by non-synchronized and non-isotropic ignitions of explosions, so that the shocks run into th...

We present the parameterized simulation of an integral-field unit (IFU) slicer spectrograph and its applications in spectroscopic studies, namely, for probing dark energy with type Ia supernovae. The simulation suite is called the fast-slicer IFU simulator (FISim). The data flow of FISim realistically models the optics of the IFU along with the propagation effects, including cosmological, zodiacal, instrumentation and detector effects. FISim simulates the spectrum extraction by computing the error matrix on the extracted spectrum. The applications for Type Ia supernova spectroscopy are used to establish the efficacy of the simulator in exploring the wider parametric space, in order to optimize the science and mission requirements. The input spectral models utilize the observables such as the optical depth and velocity of the Si II absorption feature in the supernova spectrum as the measured parameters for various studies. Using FISim, we introduce a mechanism for preserving the complete state of a system, called the partial p/partial f matrix, which allows for compression, reconstruction and spectrum extraction, we introduce a novel and efficient method for spectrum extraction, called super-optimal spectrum extraction, and we conduct various studies such as the optimal point spread function, optimal resolution, parameter estimation, etc. We demonstrate that for space-based telescopes, the optimal resolution lies in the region near R ∼ 117 for read noise of 1 e- and 7 e- using a 400 km s-1 error threshold on the Si II velocity.

.... It is reportedto be compatible with known explosive formulations and has a good shelf life. Explosivecompositions with DMNB as marking agent can be detected in the temperature range –20 ºC to+ 50 ºC...

A vapor explosion is a physical process in which very rapid energy transfer occurs between a hot liquid and a volatile, colder liquid when the two liquids come into a sudden contact. For the analyses of potential impacts from such explosive events, a computer program, TRACER-II, has been developed, which contains a complete description of mixing and propagation phases of vapor explosions. The model consists of fuel, fragmented fuel (debris), coolant liquid, and coolant vapor in two-dimensional Eulerian coordinates. The set of governing equations are solved numerically using finite difference method. The results of this numerical simulation of vapor explosions are discussed in comparison with the recent experimental data of FARO and KROTOS tests. When compared to some selected FARO and KROTOS data, the fuel-coolant mixing and explosion propagation behavior agree reasonably with the data, although the results are yet sensitive primarily to the melt breakup and fragmentation modeling. (author)

A viscoplastic constitutive model was formulated to model the high strain-rate expansion of thin cylindrical shells subjected to internal explosive detonations. This model provides insight into the development of plastic instabilities, which occur on the surface of the shells prior to failure. The effects of shock heating and damage in the form of microvoid nucleation, growth, and coalescence were incorporated using the Johnson-Cook strength model with the Mie-Grueneisen equation of state and a modified Gurson yield surface. This model was implemented into ABAQUS/Explicit as a user material subroutine. A cylindrical copper shell was modeled using both axisymmetric and plane strain elements. The high explosive material inside of the cylinder was simulated using the high explosive burn model in ABAQUS/Explicit. Two experiments were conducted involving explosive-filled, copper cylinders and good agreement was obtained between the numerical results and experimental data.

In this talk I will present recent progress on modeling core-collapse supernovae with massively parallel simulations on the largest supercomputers available. I will discuss the unique challenges in both input physics and computational modeling that come with a problem involving all four fundamental forces and relativistic effects and will highlight recent breakthroughs overcoming these challenges in full 3D simulations. I will pay particular attention to how these simulations can be used to reveal the engines driving some of the most extreme explosions and conclude by discussing what remains to be done in simulation work to maximize what we can learn from current and future time-domain astronomy transient surveys.

Magneto-rotational supernovae are a possible astrophysical site of r-process nucleosynthesis, however, we have insufficient understanding of the explosion mechanism, especially the enhancement process of magnetic fields. We investigated the nucleosynthetic properties of magneto-rotational supernovae, based on a new explosion mechanism induced by the magneto-rotational instability (MRI). We performed a series of axisymmetric hydrodynamical simulations, numerically resolving the MRI, with detailed microphysics including neutrino heating. Explosionmodels driven by neutrino heating enhanced by the MRI showed mildly neutron-rich ejecta producing weak r-process nuclei $A \\sim 130$, while an explosionmodel with a significant effect of magnetic fields reproduces a solar-like r-process pattern. More commonly seen abundance patterns in our models are in between the weak and regular r-process, producing lighter and intermediate mass nuclei. This intermediate r-process exhibits a variety of r-process abundance distribu...

The first cosmological results from the ESSENCE supernova survey (Wood-Vasey et al. 2007) are extended to a wider range of cosmological models including dynamical dark energy and non-standard cosmological models. We fold in a greater number of external data sets such as the recent Higher-z release of high-redshift supernovae (Riess et al. 2007) as well as several complementary cosmological probes. Model comparison statistics such as the Bayesian and Akaike information criteria are applied to gauge the worth of models. These statistics favor models that give a good fit with fewer parameters. Based on this analysis, the preferred cosmological model is the flat cosmological constant model, where the expansion history of the universe can be adequately described with only one free parameter describing the energy content of the universe. Amongst the more exotic models that provide good fits to the data, we note a preference for models whose best-fit parameters reduce them to the cosmological constant model.

Light reflected off a dust cloud in the vicinity of the relic of Tycho Brahe's supernova, whose light first swept past Earth more than four centuries ago, literally sheds light on the nature of this cosmic explosion.

We present an extensive study of the inception of supernovaexplosions by following the evolution of the cores of two massive stars (15 Msun and 25 Msun) in two dimensions. Our calculations begin at the onset of core collapse and stop several 100 ms after the bounce, at which time successful explosions of the appropriate magnitude have been obtained. (...) Guided by our numerical results, we have developed a paradigm for the supernovaexplosion mechanism. We view a supernova as an open cycle thermodynamic engine in which a reservoir of low-entropy matter (the envelope) is thermally coupled and physically connected to a hot bath (the protoneutron star) by a neutrino flux, and by hydrodynamic instabilities. (...) In essence, a Carnot cycle is established in which convection allows out-of-equilibrium heat transfer mediated by neutrinos to drive low entropy matter to higher entropy and therefore extracts mechanical energy from the heat generated by gravitational collapse. We argue that supernovaexplosions are ne...

There are several different theoretical ideas invoked to explain the dark energy with relatively little guidance of which one of them might be right. Therefore the emphasis of ongoing and forthcoming research in this field shifts from estimating specific parameters of cosmological model to the model selection. In this paper we apply information-theoretic model selection approach based on Akaike criterion as an estimator of Kullback-Leibler entropy. In particular, we present the proper way of ranking the competing models based on Akaike weights (in Bayesian language - posterior probabilities of the models). Out of many particular models of dark energy we focus on four: quintessence, quintessence with time varying equation of state, brane-world and generalized Chaplygin gas model and test them on Riess' Gold sample. As a result we obtain that the best model - in terms of Akaike Criterion - is the quintessence model. The odds suggest that although there exist differences in the support given to specific scenario...

In this review I summarize the role of supernova rate as a critical ingredient of modern astrophysics, and as an important tool to understand SN explosions. Many years of active observations and theoretical modeling have produced several important results. In particular, linking SN rates with parent stellar populations has proved to be an important strategy. Despite these advances, the situation is far from clear, in particular for the SNe Ia.

We present a new measurement of the volumetric rate of Type Ia supernova up to a redshift of 1.7, using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) GOODS data combined with an additional HST dataset covering the North GOODS field collected in 2004. We employ a novel technique that does not require spectroscopic data for identifying Type Ia supernovae (although spectroscopic measurements of redshifts are used for over half the sample); instead we employ a Bayesian approach using only photometric data to calculate the probability that an object is a Type Ia supernova. This Bayesian technique can easily be modified to incorporate improved priors on supernova properties, and it is well-suited for future high-statistics supernovae searches in which spectroscopic follow up of all candidates will be impractical. Here, the method is validated on both ground- and space-based supernova data having some spectroscopic follow up. We combine our volumetric rate measurements with low redshift supernova data, and fit to a number of possible models for the evolution of the Type Ia supernova rate as a function of redshift. The data do not distinguish between a flat rate at redshift > 0.5 and a previously proposed model, in which the Type Ia rate peaks at redshift {approx} 1 due to a significant delay from star-formation to the supernovaexplosion. Except for the highest redshifts, where the signal to noise ratio is generally too low to apply this technique, this approach yields smaller or comparable uncertainties than previous work.

The MAVIS II computer program provides for the modeling and analysis of explosive valve interactions. This report describes the individual components of the program and how MAVIS II is used with other available tools to integrate the design and understanding of explosive valves. The rationale and model used for each valve interaction is described. Comparisons of the calculated results with available data have demonstrated the feasibility and accuracy of using MAVIS II for analytical studies of explosive valve interactions. The model used for the explosive or pyrotechnic used as the driving force in explosive valves is the most critical to be understood and modeled. MAVIS II is an advanced version that incorporates a plastic, as well as elastic, modeling of the deformations experienced when plungers are forced into a bore. The inclusion of a plastic model has greatly expanded the use of MAVIS for all categories (opening, closure, or combined) of valves, especially for the closure valves in which the sealing operation requires the plastic deformation of either a plunger or bore over a relatively large area. In order to increase its effectiveness, the use of MAVIS II should be integrated with the results from available experimental hardware. Test hardware such as the Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector (VISAR) and Velocity Generator test provide experimental data for accurate comparison of the actual valve functions. Variable Explosive Chamber (VEC) and Constant Explosive Volume (CEV) tests are used to provide the proper explosive equation-of-state for the MAVIS calculations of the explosive driving forces. The rationale and logistics of this integration is demonstrated through an example. A recent valve design is used to demonstrate how MAVIS II can be integrated with experimental tools to provide an understanding of the interactions in this valve.

Supernova remnants are beautiful astronomical objects that are also of high scientific interest, because they provide insights into supernovaexplosion mechanisms, and because they are the likely sources of Galactic cosmic rays. X-ray observations are an important means to study these objects. And i

In this article I review the constraints on neutrino mass and mixing coming from type-II supernovae. The bounds obtained on these parameters from shock reheating, -process nucleosynthesis and from SN1987A are discussed. Given the current constraints on neutrino mass and mixing the effect of oscillations of neutrinos from a nearby supernovaexplosion in future detectors will also be discussed.

We study in this work the fate of strangelets injected as a contamination in the tail of a "strange matter-driven" supernova shock. A simple model for the fragmentation and braking of the strangelets when they pass through the expanding oxygen shell is presented and solved to understand the reprocessing of this component. We find that the escaping spectrum is a scaled-down version of the one injected at the base of the oxygen shell. The supernova source is likely to produce low-energy particles of $A \\sim 100-1000$ quite independently of the initial conditions. However, it is difficult that ultrarrelativistic strangelets (such as the hypothetical Centauro primaries) can have an origin in those explosive events.

Non Standard Interactions (NSI) of neutrinos with matter can significantly alter neutrino flavor evolution in supernovae and impact explosion dynamics with a potential of leaving an imprint of physics Beyond the Standard Model. In this manuscript we show that NSI can induce both Symmetric and Standard Matter-Neutrino Resonances (MNRs) previously studied only in compact object merger scenarios. We demonstrate that these new effects can take place in supernovae with non-standard interaction scales well below current experimental limits. A prerequisite for an NSI induced Standard MNR to occur is the presence of an inner (I) resonance transition close to the neutrino emission surface. Even in regions where the MNR does not occur, we find the NSI can induce neutrino collective effects due to the neutrino-neutrino interactions in scenarios not previously explored. We illustrate the variety of effects utilizing a two-flavor (anti)neutrino system with a single momentum mode in a homogeneous and isotropic environment....

Fast-spinning strongly-magnetized newborn neutron stars, including nascent magnetars, are popularly implemented as the engine of luminous stellar explosions. Here, we consider the scenario that they power various stripped-envelope supernovae, not only super-luminous supernovae Ic but also broad-line supernova Ibc and possibly some ordinary supernovae Ibc. This scenario is also motivated by the hypothesis that Galactic magnetars largely originate from fast-spinning neutron stars as remnants of stripped-envelope supernovae. By consistently modeling the energy injection from magnetized wind and Ni decay, we show that proto-neutron stars with >~ 10 ms rotation and B_dip >~ 5 x 10^14 G can be harbored in ordinary supernovae Ibc. On the other hand, millisecond proto-neuton stars can solely power broad-line supernovae Ibc if they are born with poloidal magnetic field of B_dip >~ 5 x 10^14 G, and superluminous supernovae Ic with B_dip >~ 10^13 G. Then, we study how multi-messenger emission can be used to discriminate...

Type II supernovae are the final stage of massive stars (above 8 M⊙) which retain part of their hydrogen-rich envelope at the moment of explosion. They typically eject up to 15 M⊙ of material, with peak magnitudes of -17.5 mag and energies in the order of 1051 erg, which can be explained by neutrino-driven explosions and neutron star formation. Here, we present our study of OGLE-2014-SN-073, one of the brightest type II supernovae ever discovered, with an unusually broad lightcurve combined with high ejecta velocities. From our hydrodynamical modelling, we infer a remarkable ejecta mass of 60-16+42M⊙ and a relatively high explosion energy of 12 .4-5.9 +13 .0×1 051 erg. We show that this object belongs, along with a very small number of other hydrogen-rich supernovae, to an energy regime that is not explained by standard core-collapse neutrino-driven explosions. We compare the quantities inferred by the hydrodynamical modelling with the expectations of various exploding scenarios and attempt to explain the high energy and luminosity released. We find some qualitative similarities with pair-instability supernovae, although the prompt injection of energy by a magnetar seems to be a viable alternative explanation for such an extreme event.

About 4.6 billion years ago, some event disturbed a cloud of gas and dust, triggering the gravitational collapse that led to the formation of the solar system. A core-collapse supernova, whose shock wave is capable of compressing such a cloud, is an obvious candidate for the initiating event. This hypothesis can be tested because supernovae also produce telltale patterns of short-lived radionuclides, which would be preserved today as isotopic anomalies. Previous studies of the forensic evidence have been inconclusive, finding a pattern of isotopes differing from that produced in conventional supernovamodels. Here we argue that these difficulties either do not arise or are mitigated if the initiating supernova was a special type, low in mass and explosion energy. Key to our conclusion is the demonstration that short-lived (10)Be can be readily synthesized in such supernovae by neutrino interactions, while anomalies in stable isotopes are suppressed.

About 4.6 billion years ago, some event disturbed a cloud of gas and dust, triggering the gravitational collapse that led to the formation of the solar system. A core-collapse supernova, whose shock wave is capable of compressing such a cloud, is an obvious candidate for the initiating event. This hypothesis can be tested because supernovae also produce telltale patterns of short-lived radionuclides, which would be preserved today as isotopic anomalies. Previous studies of the forensic evidence have been inconclusive, finding a pattern of isotopes differing from that produced in conventional supernovamodels. Here we argue that these difficulties either do not arise or are mitigated if the initiating supernova was a special type, low in mass and explosion energy. Key to our conclusion is the demonstration that short-lived 10Be can be readily synthesized in such supernovae by neutrino interactions, while anomalies in stable isotopes are suppressed.

About 4.6 billion years ago, some event disturbed a cloud of gas and dust, triggering the gravitational collapse that led to the formation of the solar system. A core-collapse supernova, whose shock wave is capable of compressing such a cloud, is an obvious candidate for the initiating event. This hypothesis can be tested because supernovae also produce telltale patterns of short-lived radionuclides, which would be preserved today as isotopic anomalies. Previous studies of the forensic evidence have been inconclusive, finding a pattern of isotopes differing from that produced in conventional supernovamodels. Here we argue that these difficulties either do not arise or are mitigated if the initiating supernova was a special type, low in mass and explosion energy. Key to our conclusion is the demonstration that short-lived Be-10 can be readily synthesized in such supernovae by neutrino interactions, while anomalies in stable isotopes are suppressed.

We compare aspects of supernovaexplosions produced in the current epoch against those produced in the first round of star formation. Although the total final mass of stars can change dramatically between these two epochs due to different mass-loss rates from winds, their cores remam very similar. The core structure is more sensitive to the stellar evolution code than it is to the amount of metals. As such, current stellar models produce supernovae from first stars that look very similar to that of stars produced in the current epoch. The neutrino signal, a powerful probe of the inner core, is identical to the few percent level for both star formation epochs. A change in the neutrino signal in the supernova population between these two star formation epochs will only arise if the initial mass function is altered.

We study the effect of Majorana transition magnetic moments on the flavor evolution of neutrinos and antineutrinos inside the core of Type-II supernovaexplosions. We find non-trivial collective oscillation effects relating neutrinos and antineutrinos of different flavors, even if one restricts the discussion to Majorana transition electromagnetic moment values that are not much larger than those expected from standard model interactions and nonzero neutrino Majorana masses. This appears to be, to the best of our knowledge, the only potentially observable phenomenon sensitive to such small values of Majorana transition magnetic moments. We briefly comment on the effect of Dirac transition magnetic moments and on the consequences of our results for future observations of the flux of neutrinos of different flavors from a nearby supernovaexplosion.

The CHIMERA code is a multi-dimensional multi-physics engine dedicated primarily to the simulation of core collapse supernovaexplosions. One of the most important aspects of these explosions is their capacity to produce gravitational radiation that is detectable by earth-based laser-interferometric gravitational wave observatories such as LIGO and VIRGO. We present here preliminary gravitational signatures of two-dimensional models with non-rotating progenitors. These simulations exhibit explosions, which are followed for more than half a second after stellar core bounce.

$UBVRI$ photometry and medium resolution optical spectroscopy of peculiar Type Ia supernova SN 2005hk are presented and analysed, covering the premaximum phase to around 400 days after explosion. The supernova is found to be underluminous compared to "normal" Type Ia supernovae. The photometric and spectroscopic evolution of SN 2005hk is remarkably similar to the peculiar Type Ia event SN 2002cx. The expansion velocity of the supernova ejecta is found to be lower than normal Type Ia events. The late time spectra of SN 2005hk do not show the presence of forbidden [\\ion{Fe}{ii}], [\\ion{Fe}{iii}] and [\\ion{Co}{iii}] lines, but are dominated by narrow, permitted \\ion{Fe}{ii}, NIR \\ion{Ca}{ii} and \\ion{Na}{i} lines with P-Cygni profiles. Light curve modeling indicates SN 2005hk to be a thermonuclear explosion with the Chandrasekhar mass ejecta, but with a smaller kinetic energy ($\\KE = 0.3 \\times 10^{51} {\\rm ergs}$) than that of canonical Type Ia supernovae. The mass of \\Nifs\\ synthesized in this explosion is $0....

It is widely believed that Galactic cosmic rays are originated in supernova remnants (SNRs), where they are accelerated by a diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) process in supernova blast waves driven by expanding SNRs. In recent theoretical developments of the DSA theory in SNRs, protons are expected to accelerate in SNRs at least up to the knee energy. If SNRs are the true generators of cosmic rays, they should accelerate not only protons but also heavier nuclei with the right proportions, and the maximum energy of the heavier nuclei should be the atomic number (Z ) times the mass of the proton. In this work, we investigate the implications of the acceleration of heavier nuclei in SNRs on energetic gamma rays produced in the hadronic interaction of cosmic rays with ambient matter. Our findings suggest that the energy conversion efficiency has to be nearly double for the mixed cosmic ray composition compared to that of pure protons to explain observations. In addition, the gamma-ray flux above a few tens of TeV would be significantly higher if cosmic ray particles could attain energies Z times the knee energy in lieu of 200 TeV, as suggested earlier for nonamplified magnetic fields. The two stated maximum energy paradigms will be discriminated in the future by upcoming gamma-ray experiments like the Cherenkov telescope array (CTA).

High explosives are energetic materials that release their chemical energy in a short interval of time. They are able to generate extreme heat and pressure by a shock driven chemical decomposition reaction, which makes them valuable tools that must be understood. This study investigated the accuracy and performance of two Los Alamos National Laboratory hydrodynamic codes, which are used to determine the behavior of explosives within a variety of systems: xRAGE which utilizes an Eulerian mesh, and FLAG with utilizes a Lagrangian mesh. Various programmed and reactive burn models within both codes were tested using a copper cylinder expansion test. The test was based on a recent experimental setup which contained the plastic bonded explosive PBX 9404. Detonation velocity versus time curves for this explosive were obtained using Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV). The modeled results from each of the burn models tested were then compared to one another and to the experimental results. This study validate

We study optical radiation of aspherical supernovae (SNe) and present an approach to verify the asphericity of SNe with optical observations of extragalactic SNe. For this purpose, we have developed a multi-dimensional Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code, SAMURAI (SupernovA MUlti-dimensional RAdIative transfer code). The code can compute the optical light curve and spectra both at early phases (explosion) and late phases (~ 1 year after the explosion), based on hydrodynamic and nucleosynthetic models. We show that all the optical observations of SN 1998bw (associated with GRB 980425) are consistent with polar-viewed radiation of the aspherical explosionmodel with kinetic energy 20 x 10^{51} ergs. Properties of off-axis hypernovae are also discussed briefly.

that the indirect inference approach oers a valuable alternative to other existing techniques. Its performance (measured by its bias and root mean squared error) is balanced and highly competitive across many different settings. A clear advantage is its applicability for mildly explosive processes. In an empirical...

Gravitational field equations in Randers-Finsler space of approximate Berwald type are investigated.A modified Friedmann equation and a new luminosity distance-redshift relation is proposed.A best-fit to the Type Ia supernovae (SNe) observations yields that the ΩΛ in the Λ-CDM model is suppressed to almost zero.This fact indicates that the astronomical observations on the Type Ia SNe can be described well without invoking any form of dark energy.The best-fit age of the universe is given.It is in agreement with the age of our galaxy.

Our understanding of the evolution of massive stars before their final explosions as supernovae is incomplete, from both an observational and a theoretical standpoint. A key missing piece in the supernova puzzle is the difficulty of identifying and studying progenitor stars. In only a single case-that of supernova SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud-has a star been detected at the supernova location before the explosion, and been subsequently shown to have vanished after the supernova event. The progenitor of SN 1987A was a blue supergiant, which required a rethink of stellar evolution models. The progenitor of supernova SN 2005gl was proposed to be an extremely luminous object, but the association was not robustly established (it was not even clear that the putative progenitor was a single luminous star). Here we report that the previously proposed object was indeed the progenitor star of SN 2005gl. This very massive star was likely a luminous blue variable that standard stellar evolution predicts should not have exploded in that state.

Full Text Available In the research, the behavior of ice under shock and explosive loads is analyzed. Full-scale experiments were carried out. It is established that the results of 2013 practically coincide with the results of 2017, which is explained by the temperature of the formation of river ice. Two research objects are considered, including freshwater ice and river ice cover. The Taylor test was simulated numerically. The results of the Taylor test are presented. Ice is described by an elastoplastic model of continuum mechanics. The process of explosive loading of ice by emulsion explosives is numerically simulated. The destruction of the ice cover under detonation products is analyzed in detail.

This is an image of a small portion of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, which marks the edge of a bubble-like, expanding blast wave from a colossal stellar explosion, occurring about 15,000 years ago. The HST image shows the structure behind the shock waves, allowing astronomers for the first time to directly compare the actual structure of the shock with theoretical model calculations. Besides supernova remnants, these shock models are important in understanding a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, from winds in newly-formed stars to cataclysmic stellar outbursts. The supernova blast is slamming into tenuous clouds of insterstellar gas. This collision heats and compresses the gas, causing it to glow. The shock thus acts as a searchlight revealing the structure of the interstellar medium. The detailed HST image shows the blast wave overrunning dense clumps of gas, which despite HST's high resolution, cannot be resolved. This means that the clumps of gas must be small enough to fit inside our solar system, making them relatively small structures by interstellar standards. A bluish ribbon of light stretching left to right across the picture might be a knot of gas ejected by the supernova; this interstellar 'bullet' traveling over three million miles per hour (5 million kilometres) is just catching up with the shock front, which has slowed down by ploughing into interstellar material. The Cygnus Loop appears as a faint ring of glowing gases about three degrees across (six times the diameter of the full Moon), located in the northern constellation, Cygnus the Swan. The supernova remnant is within the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and is 2,600 light-years away. The photo is a combination of separate images taken in three colors, oxygen atoms (blue) emit light at temperatures of 30,000 to 60,000 degrees Celsius (50,000 to 100,000 degrees Farenheit). Hydrogen atoms (green) arise throughout the region of shocked gas. Sulfur atoms (red) form when the gas cools to

This paper presents the first results from a new citizen science project: Galaxy Zoo Supernovae. This proof of concept project uses members of the public to identify supernova candidates from the latest generation of wide-field imaging transient surveys. We describe the Galaxy Zoo Supernovae operations and scoring model, and demonstrate the effectiveness of this novel method using imaging data and transients from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We examine the results collected over the period April-July 2010, during which nearly 14,000 supernova candidates from PTF were classified by more than 2,500 individuals within a few hours of data collection. We compare the transients selected by the citizen scientists to those identified by experienced PTF scanners, and find the agreement to be remarkable - Galaxy Zoo Supernovae performs comparably to the PTF scanners, and identified as transients 93% of the ~130 spectroscopically confirmed SNe that PTF located during the trial period (with no false positive iden...

We report on the Chandra observations of the archetypical mixed morphology (or thermal composite) supernova remnant, W44. As with other mixed morphology remnants, W44's projected center is bright in thermal X-rays. It has an obvious radio shell, but no discernable X-ray shell. In addition, X-ray bright knots dot W44's image. The spectral analysis of the Chandra data show that the remnant s hot, bright projected center is metal-rich and that the bright knots are regions of comparatively elevated elemental abundances. Neon is among the affected elements, suggesting that ejecta contributes to the abundance trends. Furthermore, some of the emitting iron atoms appear to be underionized with respect to the other ions, providing the first potential X-ray evidence for dust destruction in a supernova remnant. We use the Chandra data to test the following explanations for W44's X-ray bright center: 1.) entropy mixing due to bulk mixing or thermal conduction, 2.) evaporation of swept up clouds, and 3.) a metallicity gradient, possibly due to dust destruction and ejecta enrichment. In these tests, we assume that the remnant has evolved beyond the adiabatic evolutionary stage, which explains the X-ray dimness of the shell. The entropy mixed model spectrum was tested against the Chandra spectrum for the remnant's projected center and found to be a good match. The evaporating clouds model was constrained by the finding that the ionization parameters of the bright knots are similar to those of the surrounding regions. While both the entropy mixed and the evaporating clouds models are known to predict centrally bright X-ray morphologies, their predictions fall short of the observed brightness gradient. The resulting brightness gap can be largely filled in by emission from the extra metals in and near the remnant's projected center. The preponderance of evidence (including that drawn from other studies) suggests that W44's remarkable morphology can be attributed to dust destruction

Shock propagation, mixing, and clumping are studied in the explosion of red supergiants as Type II supernovae using a two-dimensional smooth particle hydrodynamic (SPH) code. We show that extensive Rayleigh-Talor instabilities develop in the ejecta in the wake of the reverse shock wave. In all cases, the shell structure of the progenitor is obliterated to leave a clumpy, well-mixed supernova remnant. However, the occurrence of mass loss during the lifetime of the progenitor can significantly reduce the amount of mixing. These results are independent of the Type II supernovaexplosion mechanism.

Full Text Available Explosion risk analysis (ERA is widely used to derive the dimensioning of accidental loads for design purposes. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD simulations contribute a key part of an ERA and predict possible blast consequences in a hazardous area. Explosion pressures can vary based on the model geometry, the explosion intensity, and explosion scenarios. Dynamic responses of structures under these explosion loads are dependent on a blast wave profile with respect to the magnitude of pressure, duration, and impulse in both positive and negative phases. Understanding the relationship between explosion load profiles and dynamic responses of the target area is important to mitigate the risk of explosion and perform structural design optimization. In the present study, the results of more than 3,000 CFD simulations were considered, and 1.6 million output files were analyzed using a visual basic for applications (VBA tool developed to characterize representative loading shapes. Dynamic response of a structure was investigated in both time and frequency domains using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT algorithm. In addition, the effects of the residual wave and loading velocity were studied in this paper.

The liquid nitrogen's explosive boiling characteristics under transient high heat flux have attracted increasing attentions of researchers over the world due to its wide applications. Although some experiments have been performed, the process and the characteristics at the initial stage, especially within 1μs, have not been described reasonably yet. Based on the related experiments and theoretical analysis, a novel kinetic model combined with quasi-fluid idea is presented to analyse the characteristics of liquid nitrogen's explosive boiling at the initial stage. The results indicate that the model can appropriately describe the liquid nitrogen's explosive boiling. The behaviour and the heat transfer characteristics of a single bubble are very different from those of the bubble cluster, thus the behaviour of individual bubbles could not be directly applied to describe the explosive boiling process at the initial stage.

PAGOSA1 has several different burn models used to model high explosive detonation. Two of these, Multi-Shock Forest Fire and Surf, are capable of modeling shock initiation. Accurately calculating shock initiation of a high explosive is important because it is a mechanism for detonation in many accident scenarios (i.e. fragment impact). Comparing the models to pop-plot data give confidence that the models are accurately calculating detonation or lack thereof. To compare the performance of these models, pop-plots2 were created from simulations where one two cm block of PBX 9502 collides with another block of PBX 9502.

Trying to detect the gravitational wave (GW) signal emitted by a type II supernova is a main challenge for the GW community. Indeed, the corresponding waveform is not accurately modeled as the supernova physics is very complex; in addition, all the existing numerical simulations agree on the weakness of the GW emission, thus restraining the number of sources potentially detectable. Consequently, triggering the GW signal with a confidence level high enough to conclude directly to a detection is very difficult, even with the use of a network of interferometric detectors. On the other hand, one can hope to take benefit from the neutrino and optical emissions associated to the supernovaexplosion, in order to discover and study GW radiation in an event already detected independently. This article aims at presenting some realistic scenarii for the search of the supernova GW bursts, based on the present knowledge of the emitted signals and on the results of network data analysis simulations. Both the direct search ...

We study the magnetic field evolution of an isolated spiral galaxy, using isolated Milky Way-mass galaxy formation simulations and a novel prescription for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) supernova feedback. Our main result is that a galactic dynamo can be seeded and driven by supernovaexplosions, resulting in magnetic fields whose strength and morphology is consistent with observations. In our model, supernovae supply thermal energy, and a low level magnetic field along with their ejecta. The thermal expansion drives turbulence, which serves a dual role by efficiently mixing the magnetic field into the interstellar medium, and amplifying it by means of turbulent dynamo. The computational prescription for MHD supernova feedback has been implemented within the publicly available ENZO code, and is fully described in this paper. This improves upon ENZO's existing modules for hydrodynamic feedback from stars and active galaxies. We find that the field attains $\\mu G$-levels over Gyr-time scales throughout the disk. Th...

We present a 3-dimensional model of supernova remnants (SNRs) where the hydrodynamical evolution of the remnant is modeled consistently with nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration occuring at the outer blast wave. The model includes particle escape and diffusion outside of the forward shock, and particle interactions with arbitrary distributions of external ambient material, such as molecular clouds. We include synchrotron emission and cooling, bremsstrahlung radiation, neutral pion production, inverse-Compton (IC), and Coulomb energy-loss. Boardband spectra have been calculated for typical parameters including dense regions of gas external to a 1000 year old SNR. In this paper, we describe the details of our model but do not attempt a detailed fit to any specific remnant. We also do not include magnetic field amplification (MFA), even though this effect may be important in some young remnants. In this first presentation of the model we don't attempt a detailed fit to any specific remnant. Our aim is to devel...

The recent astronomical measurements of distant supernovae as well as other observations indicate that our universe is presently accelerating. There are different proposals for the explanation of this acceleration. Most of these proposals require the existence of exotic matter with negative pressure violating the strong energy condition. On the other hand, there have appeared many models which offer dramatically different mechanism for the current acceleration, in which dark energy emerges from the gravity sector rather than from the matter sector. In this paper, we compare the concordance $\\Lambda$CDM model with the braneworld models of dark energy by using Akaike and Bayesian informative critera. We show that, although this model has extra parameters (the fundamental constants of the bulk space) resulting in an improved fit to the SNIa data, these new parameters are actually not important for description of present acceleration epoch. With the example of the Sahni--Shtanov braneworld model \\cite{Shtanov03},...

After the death of a runaway massive star, its supernova shock wave interacts with the bow shocks produced by its defunct progenitor, and may lose energy, momentum and its spherical symmetry before expanding into the local interstellar medium (ISM). We investigate whether the initial mass and space velocity of these progenitors can be associated with asymmetric supernova remnants. We run hydrodynamical models of supernovae exploding in the pre-shaped medium of moving Galactic core-collapse progenitors. We find that bow shocks that accumulate more than about 1.5 M⊙ generate asymmetric remnants. The shock wave first collides with these bow shocks 160-750 yr after the supernova, and the collision lasts until 830-4900 yr. The shock wave is then located 1.35-5 pc from the centre of the explosion, and it expands freely into the ISM, whereas in the opposite direction it is channelled into the region of undisturbed wind material. This applies to an initially 20 M⊙ progenitor moving with velocity 20 km s-1 and to our initially 40 M⊙ progenitor. These remnants generate mixing of ISM gas, stellar wind and supernova ejecta that is particularly important upstream from the centre of the explosion. Their light curves are dominated by emission from optically thin cooling and by X-ray emission of the shocked ISM gas. We find that these remnants are likely to be observed in the [O III] λ 5007 spectral line emission or in the soft energy-band of X-rays. Finally, we discuss our results in the context of observed Galactic supernova remnants such as 3C 391 and the Cygnus Loop.

Recent interpretations of narrow, variable absorption lines detected in some Type Ia supernovae suggest that their progenitors are surrounded by dense, circumstellar material. Similar variations detected in the symbiotic recurrent nova system RS Oph, which undergoes thermonuclear outbursts every 20 years, making it an ideal candidate to investigate the origin of these lines. To this end, we present simulations of multiple mass transfer-nova cycles in RS Oph. We find that the quiescent mass transfer produces a dense, equatorial outflow, i.e. concentrated towards the binary orbital plane, and an accretion disc forms around the white dwarf. The interaction of a spherical nova outburst with these aspherical circumstellar structures produces a bipolar outflow, similar to that seen in Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the 2006 outburst. In order to produce an ionization structure that is consistent with observations, a mass-loss rate of 5 × 10-7 M⊙ yr-1 from the red giant is required. The simulations also produce a polar accretion flow, which may explain the broad wings of the quiescent H line and hard X-rays. By comparing simulated absorption line profiles to observations of the 2006 outburst, we are able to determine which components arise in the wind and which are due to the novae. We explore the possible behaviour of absorption line profiles as they may appear should a supernova occur in a system like RS Oph. Our models show similarities to supernovae like SN 2006X, but require a high mass-loss rate, dot{M} ˜ 10^{-6}-10-5 M⊙ yr-1, to explain the variability in SN 2006X.

The authors review the different engines behind supernova (SNe) and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), focusing on those engines driving explosions in massive stars: core-collapse SNe and long-duration GRBs. Convection and rotation play important roles in the engines of both these explosions. They outline the basic physics and discuss the wide variety of ways scientists have proposed that this physics can affect the supernovaexplosion mechanism, concluding with a review of the current status in these fields.

Ultraviolet (UV) observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) probe the outermost layers of the explosion, and UV spectra of SNe Ia are expected to be extremely sensitive to differences in progenitor composition and the details of the explosion. Here, we present the first study of a sample of high...

We describe a new formalism to fit the parameters α and β that are used in the SALT2 model to determine the standard magnitudes of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The new formalism describes the intrinsic scatter in SNe Ia by a covariance matrix in place of the single parameter normally used. We have applied this formalism to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Supernova Survey (SDSS-II) data and conclude that the data are best described by α = 0.135+.033 -.017 and β = 3.19+0.14 - 0.24, where the error is dominated by the uncertainty in the form of the intrinsic scatter matrix. Our result depends on the introduction of a more general form for the intrinsic scatter of the distance moduli of SNe Ia than is conventional, resulting in a larger value of β and a larger uncertainty than the conventional approach. Although this analysis results in a larger value of β and a larger error, the SDSS data differ (at a 98% confidence level) from β = 4.1, the value expected for extinction by the type of dust found in the Milky Way. We have modeled the distribution of SNe Ia in terms of their color and conclude that there is strong evidence that variation in color is a significant contributor to the scatter of SNe Ia around their standard candle magnitude.

The quark-meson model is investigated for the two- and three-flavor case extended by contributions of vector mesons under conditions encountered in core-collapse supernova matter. Typical temperature ranges, densities and electron fractions, as found in core-collapse supernova simulations, are studied by implementing charge neutrality and local beta-equilibrium with respect to weak interactions. Within this framework, we analyze the resulting phase diagram and equation of state (EoS) and investigate the impact of undetermined parameters of the model. The EoS turns out to be relatively independent on the entropy per baryon but there are significant changes when going from the two-flavor to the three-flavor case due to the nontrivial contribution from the strange quarks which stay massive even at high densities. While an increasing vector meson coupling constant leads to a substantial stiffening of the EoS, we find that the impact of changing the scalar meson mass is equally strong and results in a softening of...

In the present paper, we compare the predictions of two well known mechanisms considered able to solve the cusp/core problem (a. supernova feedback; b. baryonic clumps-DM interaction) by comparing their theoretical predictions to recent observations of the inner slopes of galaxies with masses ranging from dSphs to normal spirals. We compare the $\\alpha$-$V_{\\rm rot}$ and the $\\alpha$-$M_{\\ast}$ relationships, predicted by the two models with high resolution data coming from \\cite{Adams2014}, \\cite{Simon2005}, LITTLE THINGS \\citep{Oh2014}, THINGS dwarves \\citep{Oh2011a,Oh2011b}, THINGS spirals \\citep{Oh2014}, Sculptor, Fornax and the Milky Way. The comparison of the theoretical predictions with the complete set of data shows that the two models perform similarly, while when we restrict the analysis to a smaller subsample of higher quality, we show that the method presented in this paper (baryonic clumps-DM interaction) performs better than the one based on supernova feedback. We also show that, contrarily to t...

The authors present a possible scenario driven by QCD deconfinement in a high density nuclear matter medium. Some expected consequences for type II supernovaeexplosions are also given, particularly, the output energy that might be enough to account for the observed events.

Stellar feedback affects the state of the interstellar medium and plays an important role in the formation of galaxies. However, different ways of modeling that feedback lead to different galaxy morphologies even when using the same initial conditions. We investigated the differences between two models of supernovae feedback, blastwave feedback and superbubble feedback, using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics code to simulate the formation of an isolated galaxy. The two feedback models were compared across three different models of the ISM: primordial cooling, metal-line cooling, and metal-line cooling in addition to molecular hydrogen. The simulations run with metal-line cooling indicate that superbubble feedback creates a greater amount of high-density gas than blastwave feedback does while also regulating star formation more efficiently. Galaxies produced with metal-line cooling or H2 physics created cold, dense gas, and the increased cooling efficiency was also linked to more pronounced spiral structure.

We investigate the effect of dimensionality on the transition to explosion in neutrino-driven core-collapse supernovae. Using parameterized hydrodynamic simulations of the stalled supernova shock in one-, two- (2D), and three spatial dimensions (3D), we systematically probe the extent to which hydrodynamic instabilities alone can tip the balance in favor of explosion. In particular, we focus on systems that are well into the regimes where the Standing Accretion Shock Instability (SASI) or neutrino-driven convection dominate the dynamics, and characterize the difference between them. We find that SASI-dominated models can explode with up to ~20% lower neutrino luminosity in 3D than in 2D, with the magnitude of this difference decreasing with increasing resolution. This improvement in explosion conditions originates in the ability of spiral modes to generate more non-radial kinetic energy than a single sloshing mode, increasing the size of the average shock radius, and hence generating better conditions for the...

The gravitational wave (GW) signature of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) encodes important information on the supernovaexplosion mechanism, the workings of which cannot be explored via observations in the electromagnetic spectrum. Recent research has shown that the CCSNe explosion mechanism can be inferred through the application of Bayesian model selection to gravitational wave signals from supernovaexplosions powered by the neutrino, magnetorotational and acoustic mechanisms. Extending this work, we apply Principal Component Analysis to the GW spectrograms from CCSNe to take into account also the time-frequency evolution of the emitted signals. We do so in the context of Advanced LIGO, to establish if any improvement on distinguishing between various explosion mechanisms can be obtained. Further to this, we consider a five-detector network of interferometers (comprised of the two Advanced LIGO detectors, Advanced Virgo, LIGO India and KAGRA) and generalize the aforementioned analysis for a source of known position but unknown distance, using realistic, re-colored detector data (as opposed to Gaussian noise), in order to make more reliable statements regarding our ability to distinguish between various explosion mechanisms on the basis of their GW signatures.

Type Ia supernovae are critical distance indicators for cosmology. The lightcurves are powered by the decay of radioactive nickel and cobalt isotopes. The amount of nickel produced in the supernova event depends on the detailed trajectories of the hydrodynamic evolution of the explosion. A key ingredient in numerical simulations of the deflagration phase of Type Ia supernovae is the nuclear flame model. A realistic model must accurately describe the nuclear energy released, the timescale on which the energy release occurs, and the changes in composition that constitute the burning. Once the flame has passed, the hot products of the burning constitute a nuclear statistical equilibrium (NSE) abundance distribution. Since the NSE abundances, and hence derived quantities such as the mean binding energy per nucleon, are functions of the density, temperature and electron fraction, it is important to continuously adjust the NSE state of the ashes during the hydrodynamic evolution of the star. Weak interactions influence the energetics and evolution via the change in degeneracy pressure due to captured electrons, the energy losses carried away by neutrinos, and the readjustment of the NSE state following a change in the electron fraction. We have developed a NSE-based model, which implements these features for a hydrodynamical evolution code.

The current quark mass model is adopted to study the phase transition of two-flavor quark matter to more stable three-flavor quark matter in the whole core of a supernova. It shows that the timescale of the process is shorter than 10-8 seconds, thatthe u- and d-quark masses can be neglected completely in this model, and that the temperature and the total neutrino energies in the core after the conversion increase nearly by 40% and 20% on the average compared with former results, respectively. The last result can further enhance the probability of success for a supernovaexplosion significantly.

We describe two new open-source tools written in Python for performing extreme deconvolution Gaussian mixture modeling (XDGMM) and using a conditioned model to re-sample observed supernova and host galaxy populations. XDGMM is new program that uses Gaussian mixtures to perform density estimation of noisy data using extreme deconvolution (XD) algorithms. Additionally, it has functionality not available in other XD tools. It allows the user to select between the AstroML and Bovy et al. fitting methods and is compatible with scikit-learn machine learning algorithms. Most crucially, it allows the user to condition a model based on the known values of a subset of parameters. This gives the user the ability to produce a tool that can predict unknown parameters based on a model that is conditioned on known values of other parameters. EmpiriciSN is an exemplary application of this functionality, which can be used to fit an XDGMM model to observed supernova/host data sets and predict likely supernova parameters using a model conditioned on observed host properties. It is primarily intended to simulate realistic supernovae for LSST data simulations based on empirical galaxy properties.

We describe two new open-source tools written in Python for performing extreme deconvolution Gaussian mixture modeling (XDGMM) and using a conditioned model to re-sample observed supernova and host galaxy populations. XDGMM is new program that uses Gaussian mixtures to perform density estimation of noisy data using extreme deconvolution (XD) algorithms. Additionally, it has functionality not available in other XD tools. It allows the user to select between the AstroML and Bovy et al. fitting methods and is compatible with scikit-learn machine learning algorithms. Most crucially, it allows the user to condition a model based on the known values of a subset of parameters. This gives the user the ability to produce a tool that can predict unknown parameters based on a model that is conditioned on known values of other parameters. EmpiriciSN is an exemplary application of this functionality, which can be used to fit an XDGMM model to observed supernova/host data sets and predict likely supernova parameters using a model conditioned on observed host properties. It is primarily intended to simulate realistic supernovae for LSST data simulations based on empirical galaxy properties.

In this paper, the holographic dark energy (HDE) model, where the future event horizon is taken as an IR cut-off, is confronted by using currently available cosmic observational data sets which include type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillation and cosmic microwave background radiation from full information of WMAP-7yr. Via the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, we obtain the values of model parameter $c= 0.696_{- 0.0737- 0.132- 0.190}^{+ 0.0736+ 0.159+ 0.264}$ with $1,2,3\\sigma$ regions. Therefore one can conclude that at lest $3\\sigma$ level the future Universe will be dominated by phantom like dark energy. It is not consistent with positive energy condition, however this condition must be satisfied to derive the holographic bound. It implies that the current cosmic observational data points disfavor the HDE model.

The possible association of the supernova remnant (SNR) G 343.1-2.3 with the pulsar PSR B 1706-44 (superposed on the arclike "shell" of the SNR) has been questioned by some authors on the basis of an inconsistency between the implied and measured (scintillation) transverse velocities of the pulsar, the absence of any apparent interaction between the pulsar and the SNR's "shell", and some other indirect arguments. We suggest, however, that this association could be real if both objects are the remnants of a supernova (SN) which exploded within a mushroom-like cavity (created by the SN progenitor wind breaking out of the parent molecular cloud). This suggestion implies that the actual shape of the SNR's shell is similar to that of the well-known SNR VRO 42.05.01 and that the observed bright arc corresponds to the "half" of the SNR located inside the cloud. We report the discovery in archival radio data of an extended ragged radio arc to the southeast of the bright arc which we interpret as the "half" of the SN ...

We develop a simple model for the evolution of a nucleon spin in a hot and dense nuclear medium. A given nucleon is limited to one-dimensional motion in a distribution of external, spin-dependent scattering potentials. We calculate the nucleon spin autocorrelation function numerically for a variety of potential densities and distributions which are meant to bracket realistic conditions in a supernova core. For all plausible configurations the width of the spin-density structure function is found to be less than the temperature. This is in contrast with a naive perturbative calculation based on the one-pion exchange potential which overestimates the width and thus suggests a large suppression of the neutrino opacities by nucleon spin fluctuations. Our results suggest that it may be justified to neglect the collisional broadening of the spin-density structure function for the purpose of estimating the neutrino opacities in the deep inner core of a supernova. On the other hand, we find no indication that process...

We have performed simulations of electron capture supernovae in a spherically symmetric general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics model with approximate neutrino treatment. We base our study on an 8.8 M {sub CircleDot} O-Ne-Mg core progenitor (Nomoto, 1984, 1987). We successfully obtain an explosion and compare our results with a reference run performed with an state-of-the-art three-flavor Boltzmann neutrino transport scheme implemented into the same hydrodynamic code. In general, we find good agreement in the the electron-flavor neutrino spectra. However, we find shorter explosion timescales and also significantly lower explosion energies of only 1.4 . 10{sup 48} erg. This result is in agreement with the explosion energy of SN 2008S as derived by Tominaga et al. (2013) based on light curve studies. Currently we are extending our simulations to the recently published super-AGB star progenitor models by Jones et al. (2013) with regard to their evolution towards an electron capture supernova. Our study also explores the role of weak interaction rates in determining the evolution and shaping the spectra of the emitted neutrinos.

The interpretation of supernova (SN) spectra is essential for deriving SN ejecta properties such as density and composition, which in turn can tell us about their progenitors and the explosion mechanism. A very large number of atomic processes are important for spectrum formation. Several tools for calculating SN spectra exist, but they mainly focus on the very early or late epochs. The intermediate phase, which requires a non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) treatment of radiation transport has rarely been studied. In this paper, we present a new SN radiation transport code, NERO, which can look at those epochs. All the atomic processes are treated in full NLTE, under a steady-state assumption. This is a valid approach between roughly 50 and 500 days after the explosion depending on SN type. This covers the post-maximum photospheric and the early and the intermediate nebular phase. As a test, we compare NERO to the radiation transport code of Jerkstrand, Fransson & Kozma and to the nebular code of Mazzali et al. All three codes have been developed independently and a comparison provides a valuable opportunity to investigate their reliability. Currently, NERO is one-dimensional and can be used for predicting spectra of synthetic explosionmodels or for deriving SN properties by spectral modelling. To demonstrate this, we study the spectra of the 'normal' Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2005cf between 50 and 350 days after the explosion and identify most of the common SN Ia line features at post-maximum epochs.

We present a 3-dimensional model of supernova remnants (SNRs) where the hydrodynamical evolution of the remnant is modeled consistently with nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration occurring at the outer blast wave. The model includes particle escape and diffusion outside of the forward shock, and particle interactions with arbitrary distributions of external ambient material, such as molecular clouds. We include synchrotron emission and cooling, bremsstrahlung radiation, neutral pion production, inverse-Compton (IC), and Coulomb energy-loss. Boardband spectra have been calculated for typical parameters including dense regions of gas external to a 1000 year old SNR. In this paper, we describe the details of our model but do not attempt a detailed fit to any specific remnant. We also do not include magnetic field amplification (MFA), even though this effect may be important in some young remnants. In this first presentation of the model we don't attempt a detailed fit to any specific remnant. Our aim is to develop a flexible platform, which can be generalized to include effects such as MFA, and which can be easily adapted to various SNR environments, including Type Ia SNRs, which explode in a constant density medium, and Type II SNRs, which explode in a pre-supernova wind. When applied to a specific SNR, our model will predict cosmic-ray spectra and multi-wavelength morphology in projected images for instruments with varying spatial and spectral resolutions. We show examples of these spectra and images and emphasize the importance of measurements in the hard X-ray, GeV, and TeV gamma-ray bands for investigating key ingredients in the acceleration mechanism, and for deducing whether or not TeV emission is produced by IC from electrons or pion-decay from protons.

The half-lives are calculated for the - decay process for nuclei in the mass range ∼ 65-75 relevant for the core of a massive star at the late burning stage of stellar evolution and the collapse that leads to supernovaexplosion. These half-lives and rates are calculated by expressing the - Gamow-Teller decay strengths in terms of smoothed bivariate strength densities. These strength densities are constructed in the framework of spectral averaging theory for two-body nuclear Hamiltonian in a large nuclear shell model space. The method has a natural extension to electron captures as well as weak interaction rates for and -processes.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling is the most promising method for safety assessment of hazardous fluid releases around oil and gas installations. By resolving several fluctuating quantities of such flows, these models have the potential to become a widely used decision tool for rapid assessment of explosion overpressures resulting from spilled hydrocarbons. The present paper reviews the current state of the art in vapour cloud or gas explosionmodelling using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. Description of six recognisable CFD-based explosion codes currently used by industry and research communities in explosion hazard analysis will be presented. Appraisal of geometry or sub-grid modelling using porosity/distributed resistances (PDRs) will be made. This paper also explains how the unstructured adaptive gridding approach can become a viable alternative for better-resolved predictions of gas or vapour cloud explosions in complex geometries. A brief but comprehensive analysis of combustion and turbulence models used within the codes including their limitations will be presented. The paper concludes by suggesting key areas for further work. (orig.)

With exact three-flavor Boltzmann neutrino transport, we simulate the stellar core collapse, bounce, and postbounce evolution of a 13M star in spherical symmetry, the Newtonian limit, without invoking convection. In the absence of convection, prior spherically symmetric models, which implemented approximations to Boltzmann transport, failed to produce explosions. We consider exact transport to determine if these failures were due to the transport approximations made and to answer remaining fundamental questions in supernova theory. The model presented here is the first in a sequence of models beginning with different progenitors. In this model, a supernovaexplosion is not obtained.

The evolution of hot spots within explosives is critical to understand for predicting how detonation waves form and propagate. However, it is challenging to observe hot spots directly because they are small (˜micron diameter), form quickly (much less than a microsecond), and many explosives of interest are optically opaque. Microwaves are well-suited to characterize hot spots because they readily penetrate most explosives. They also have sufficient temporal and spatial resolution to measure the coalescence of an ensemble of hot spots inside explosives. Here we employ 94 GHz microwaves to characterize the evolution of individual plasma plumes formed by laser ionization of air. We use interferometry to obtain plume diameter as a function of time. Although the plasma plumes are larger than individual hot spots in explosives, they expand rapidly and predictably, and their structure can be optically imaged. They are therefore useful model systems to establish the spatial and temporal limits of microwave interferometry (MI) for understanding more complex hot spot behavior in solid explosives.

Full Text Available This paper is devoted to the building of a numerical pore collapse model with “hot-spots” formation for the impacted damage explosives. According to damage mechanical evolution of brittle material, the one-dimensional elastic-viscoplastic collapse model was improved to incorporate the impact damage during the dynamic collapse of pores. The damage of explosives was studied using the statistical crack mechanics (SCRAM. The effects of the heat conduction and the chemical reaction were taken into account in the formation of “hot-spots.” To verify the improved model, numerical simulations were carried out for different pressure states and used to model a multiple-impact experiment. The results show that repeated weak impacts can lead to the collapse of pores and the “hot-spots” may occur due to the accumulation of internal defects accompanied by the softening of explosives.

High explosives are energetic materials that release their chemical energy in a short interval of time. They are able to generate extreme heat and pressure by a shock driven chemical decomposition reaction, which makes them valuable tools that must be understood. This study investigated the accuracy and performance of two Los Alamos National Laboratory hydrodynamic codes, which are used to determine the behavior of explosives within a variety of systems: xRAGE which utilizes an Eulerian mesh, and FLAG with utilizes a Lagrangian mesh. Various programmed and reactive burn models within both codes were tested, using a copper cylinder expansion test. The test was based off of a recent experimental setup which contained the plastic bonded explosive PBX 9404. Detonation velocity versus time curves for this explosive were obtained from the experimental velocity data collected using Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV). The modeled results from each of the burn models tested were then compared to one another and to the experimental results using the Jones-Wilkins-Lee (JWL) equation of state parameters that were determined and adjusted from the experimental tests. This study is important to validate the accuracy of our high explosive burn models and the calibrated EOS parameters, which are important for many research topics in physical sciences.

To better model the efficient production of cosmic rays (CRs) in supernova remnants (SNRs) with the associated coupling between CR production and SNR dynamics, we have generalized an existing cr-hydro-NEI code (i.e., Ellison et al. 2012) to include the following processes: (1) an explicit calculation of the upstream precursor structure including the position dependent flow speed, density, temperature, and magnetic field strength; (2) a momentum and space dependent CR diffusion coefficient; (3) an explicit calculation of magnetic field amplification (MFA); (4) calculation of the maximum CR momentum using the amplified magnetic field; (5) a finite Alfven speed for the particle scattering centers; and (6) the ability to accelerate a superthermal seed population of CRs as well as the ambient thermal plasma. While a great deal of work has been done modeling SNRs, most work has concentrated on either the continuum emission from relativistic electrons or ions, or the thermal emission from the shock heated plasma. Ou...

We investigate core-collapse supernova (CCSN) nucleosynthesis in polar axisymmetric simulations using the multidimensional radiation hydrodynamics code CHIMERA. Computational costs have traditionally constrained the evolution of the nuclear composition in CCSN models to, at best, a 14-species $\\alpha$-network. Such a simplified network limits the ability to accurately evolve detailed composition, neutronization and the nuclear energy generation rate. Lagrangian tracer particles are commonly used to extend the nuclear network evolution by incorporating more realistic networks in post-processing nucleosynthesis calculations. Limitations such as poor spatial resolution of the tracer particles, estimation of the expansion timescales, and determination of the "mass-cut" at the end of the simulation impose uncertainties inherent to this approach. We present a detailed analysis of the impact of these uncertainties on post-processing nucleosynthesis calculations and implications for future models.

The hadron-quark phase transition in core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) has the potential to trigger explosions in otherwise non-exploding models. However, those hybrid supernova equations of state (EOS) shown to trigger an explosion do not support the observational 2 M_sun neutron star maximum mass constraint. In this work, we analyze cold hybrid stars by the means of a systematic parameter scan for the phase transition properties, with the aim to develop a new hybrid supernova EOS. The hadronic phase is described with the state-of-the-art supernova EOS HS(DD2), and quark matter by an EOS with a constant speed of sound ("CSS"). We find promising cases which meet the 2 M_sun criterion and are interesting for CCSN explosions. We show that the very simple CSS EOS is transferable into the well known thermodynamic bag model, important for future application in CCSN simulations. In the second part, the occurrence of reconfinement and multiple phase transitions is discussed. In the last part, the influence of hyperon...

A new class of ultra-long-duration (more than 10,000 seconds) γ-ray bursts has recently been suggested. They may originate in the explosion of stars with much larger radii than those producing normal long-duration γ-ray bursts or in the tidal disruption of a star. No clear supernova has yet been associated with an ultra-long-duration γ-ray burst. Here we report that a supernova (SN 2011kl) was associated with the ultra-long-duration γ-ray burst GRB 111209A, at a redshift z of 0.677. This supernova is more than three times more luminous than type Ic supernovae associated with long-duration γ-ray bursts, and its spectrum is distinctly different. The slope of the continuum resembles those of super-luminous supernovae, but extends further down into the rest-frame ultraviolet implying a low metal content. The light curve evolves much more rapidly than those of super-luminous supernovae. This combination of high luminosity and low metal-line opacity cannot be reconciled with typical type Ic supernovae, but can be reproduced by a model where extra energy is injected by a strongly magnetized neutron star (a magnetar), which has also been proposed as the explanation for super-luminous supernovae.

Ultraviolet observations of Core Collapse Supernovae (CCSNe) have traditionally lagged behind observations in the optical and near-infrared. With the launch of Swift in 2004 this began to change. The systematic study of UV emission from these objects provides information about supernovae temperature, radius, metallicity and luminosity that may be difficult to obtain from the ground - especially at early times where upwards of 80% of the SNe bolometric flux may come from the UV region. We begin with the examination of an extraordinary Type IIn supernova SN 2007pk, which was at the time the earliest observed Type IIn SNe in the UV, and characterize the explosion properties while examining how the early observed UV emission compares with other observed CCSNe at early times. Building upon this we assemble the largest sample of CCSNe in the UV and examine the UV and bolometric characteristics of CCSNe by subtype. Using these bolometric light curves we go on to calculate empirically based bolometric corrections and UV- ux corrections for use by observers when observing filters are limited or UV observations are unable to be obtained. We improve upon this by identifying a small subsample of Type II Plateau SNe which have simultaneous ground based optical - near infrared data, and improve our bolometric light curve calculation method to more accurately determine bolometric light curve, corrections and UV corrections. Finally, we use recent hydrodynamical models to examine the accuracy of current modeling techniques to reproduce Type IIP SNe, the implications of progenitor properties on the light curves of the SNe, and possibility of future diagnostics for progenitor metalicity, radius, and explosion energies from Type IIP light curves and models.

The neutrino burst from a core collapse supernova can provide information about the explosion mechanism and the mechanisms of proto neutron star cooling but also about the intrinsic properties of the neutrino such as flavor oscillations. One important question is to understand to which extent can the supernova and the neutrino physics be decoupled in the observation of a single supernova. The possibility to probe the neutrino mixing angle {theta}{sub 13} and the type of mass hierarchy from the detection of supernova neutrinos with liquid argon detectors is summarized in this paper. Moreover, a quantitative study about the possibility to constrain the supernova parameters is presented. A very massive liquid argon detector ({approx} 100 kton) is needed to perform accurate measurements of these parameters. In addition, these detectors could also provide information on the {nu}{sub e} component of the diffuse supernova neutrino background.

Type Ia supernova (SNIa) explosions synthesize a few tenths to several tenths of a solar mass, whose composition is the result of incomplete silicon burning that reaches peak temperatures of 4 GK to 5 GK. The elemental abundances are sensitive to the physical conditions in the explosion, making their measurement a promising clue to uncovering the properties of the progenitor star and of the explosion itself. Using a parameterized description of the thermodynamic history of matter undergoing incomplete silicon burning, we computed the final composition for a range of parameters wide enough to encompass current models of SNIa. Then, we searched for combinations of elemental abundances that trace the parameters values and are potentially measurable. For this purpose, we divide the present study into two epochs of SNIa, namely the optical epoch, from a few weeks to several months after the explosion, and the X-ray epoch, which refers to the time period in which the supernova remnant is young, starting one or two ...

This paper presents the first results from a new citizen science project: Galaxy Zoo Supernovae. This proof-of-concept project uses members of the public to identify supernova candidates from the latest generation of wide-field imaging transient surveys. We describe the Galaxy Zoo Supernovae operations and scoring model, and demonstrate the effectiveness of this novel method using imaging data and transients from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We examine the results collected over the period 2010 April-July, during which nearly 14 000 supernova candidates from the PTF were classified by more than 2500 individuals within a few hours of data collection. We compare the transients selected by the citizen scientists to those identified by experienced PTF scanners and find the agreement to be remarkable - Galaxy Zoo Supernovae performs comparably to the PTF scanners and identified as transients 93 per cent of the ˜130 spectroscopically confirmed supernovae (SNe) that the PTF located during the trial period (with no false positive identifications). Further analysis shows that only a small fraction of the lowest signal-to-noise ratio detections (r > 19.5) are given low scores: Galaxy Zoo Supernovae correctly identifies all SNe with ≥8σ detections in the PTF imaging data. The Galaxy Zoo Supernovae project has direct applicability to future transient searches, such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, by both rapidly identifying candidate transient events and via the training and improvement of existing machine classifier algorithms. This publication has been made possible by the participation of more than 10 000 volunteers in the Galaxy Zoo Supernovae project ().

Pair-instability supernovae (PISNe) have been suggested as candidates for some superluminous supernovae, such as SN 2007bi, and as one of the dominant types of explosion occurring in the early universe from massive, zero-metallicity Population III stars. The progenitors of such events can be rapidly rotating, therefore exhibiting different evolutionary properties due to the effects of rotationally induced mixing and mass-loss. Proper identification of such events requires rigorous radiation hydrodynamics and radiative transfer calculations that capture not only the behavior of the light curve but also the spectral evolution of these events. We present radiation hydrodynamics and radiation transport calculations for 90-300 M {sub ☉} rotating PISNe covering both the shock breakout and late light curve phases. We also investigate cases of different initial metallicity and rotation rate to determine the impact of these parameters on the detailed spectral characteristics of these events. In agreement with recent results on non-rotating PISNe, we find that for a range of progenitor masses and rotation rates these events have intrinsically red colors in contradiction with observations of superluminous supernovae. The spectroscopic properties of rotating PISNe are similar to those of non-rotating events with stripped hydrogen and helium envelopes. We find that the progenitor metallicity and rotation rate properties are erased after the explosion and cannot be identified in the resulting model spectra. It is the combined effects of pre-supernova mass-loss and the basic properties of the supernova ejecta such as mass, temperature, and velocity that have the most direct impact in the model spectra of PISNe.

The supernova remnants left behind by Type Ia supernovae provide an excellent opportunity for the study of these enigmatic objects. In a previous work, we showed that it is possible to use the X-ray spectra of young Type Ia supernova remnants to explore the physics of Type Ia supernovae and identify the relevant mechanism underlying these explosions. Our simulation technique is based on hydrodynamic and nonequilibrium ionization calculations of the interaction of a grid of Type Ia explosionmodels with the surrounding ambient medium, coupled to an X-ray spectral code. In this work we explore the influence of two key parameters on the shape of the X-ray spectrum of the ejecta: the density of the ambient medium around the supernova progenitor and the efficiency of collisionless electron heating at the reverse shock. We also discuss the performance of recent 3D simulations of Type Ia SN explosions in the context of the X-ray spectra of young SNRs. We find a better agreement with the observations for Type Ia supe...

Seitenzahl et al. (2009) have predicted that $\\sim 3$ years after its explosion, the light we receive from a Type Ia supernova will come mostly from reprocessing of electrons and X-rays emitted by the radioactive decay chain $^{57}{\\rm Co}~\\to~^{57}{\\rm Fe}$, instead of positrons from the decay chain $^{56}{\\rm Co}~\\to~^{56}{\\rm Fe}$ that dominates the supernova light at earlier times. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, we followed the light curve of the Type Ia supernova SN2012cg out to $1055$ days after maximum light. Our measurements are consistent with the light curves predicted by the contribution of energy from the reprocessing of electrons and X-rays emitted by the decay of $^{57}$Co. This provides conclusive evidence that $^{57}$Co is produced in Type Ia supernovaexplosions. The ratio of luminosities produced by the decays of $^{57}$Co and $^{56}$Co, a strong constraint on any Type Ia supernovaexplosionmodel, is in the range $(0.4$ - $8.5)\\times10^{-3}$.